Sunday Rants: Those Phantom Roadworks

You know the ones I mean. You’re driving happily along the dual carriageway or motorway and then you come across the signs. The great big red circle with great big black figures in the middle saying ’50’ (and sometimes even less). You sigh as you realise you must slow for yet more roadworks on the road, but throughout the entire duration of the slower speed limit, do you see a single soul working on the road?

Of course you flipping don’t! So why have you been asked to reduce your speed to 50. Well lets see what the supporting yellow signs have to say. ‘Speed limit for safety reasons’. Oh, that makes sense I suppose. Or rather it would, if there was anything on this stretch of road that could cause significant danger…

A smaller sign on the road reads that there is work continuing here overnight. But this writing is so small it is dwarfed by it’s massive 50 MPH instruction signs. And you therefore get a problem. Some cars slow worried about the speed limit, whereas others simply continue at their full speed as there is clearly no real danger. And by doing this we have a much more dangerous situation that we ever had without the ‘phantom roadworks’. Obviously when you see a speed limit sign you are supposed to slow down, but we all know that that’s not what happens and so this is a very real safety risk.

Now I’m a realist and I understand that roadworks need to be carried out (after all it would be great to remove some of the countless potholes on my way to work), but I just can’t justify these phantom roadworks. We are slowing down for CONES! If the work only needs to be done overnight, then only out the speed limit signs up overnight. Heck, it doesn’t take long to turn them around!

For the last three months I have had phantom roadworks on my way to work and back, changing their location every few weeks. I am yet to discover exactly what it being done there, I have never seen anyone working there yet I have seen many cars suddenly slow there (or not) which can lead to accidents, especially in the frosty weather.

This is something that needs to be sorted and fast. Phantom Roadworks are more than an annoyance, their a very real safety problem.

Enjoy your Sunday 🙂