Conference terri::cars_uk

Both lanes?  :-(

    I USED THE M40 TO GET FROM SURREY TO MANCHESTER LAST WEEKEND. I RECKON
    IT KNOCKED ABOUT HALF AN HOUR OF THE TIME , AND WAS LESS BUSY THAN 'T
    M1.

     
    M40....
    
    Well I've just returned from a weekend in Birmingham. I used to use the
    A34 and most of the time I used to get caught behind slow moving
    lorries.
    
    It was great...basingstoke to walsall in 1hr and 50 minutes...normally 
    takes 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours up the A34.
    
    ******NOTE*******
    
    I was warned before I travelled about a spot which was very dangerous,
    I didn't believe him. But to my surprise, he was right. I hit this 	
    thick cloud of fog, I'd never seen anything like it. A bird told me 
    that people were warned about this before it was made, but took no 
    notice as this area was prone for fog.			
    
    YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...!!!
    
    "HAVE A SAFE TRIP"
    
    CRAIG
    
    
    
    

    
    which particular bit of the M40? I am likely to be using it quite often
    and it would be good to know where to be ready for the fog!

    The bit that is supposed to be prone to fog is where it passes through
    the Cherwell Valley, near to Bicester/Banbury.
    
    Sorry don't know the junction numbers, but it's where the big pile-up
    was a couple of weeks ago.
    
    Geoff

    Whilst driving "up north" along the new M40 last Saturday there was
    an interesting radio program about it on Radio Oxford. It turns out
    that you can now drive from Maidstone in Kent to Telford along our
    motorways without encountering a single service area !! This means
    no teas, no pees, etc, etc. It's not too bad for us 'blokes', we can
    always pull off into a handy pub. Not so easy for single women, mums
    with kids etc. A masterpiece of DOT planning as the program said.
    Not only but also - any 40 ton juggernaut driver who hears the call of
    nature would have to pull off the M40 and drive to  a nearby village.
    Into the very villages that the M40 was designed to bypass....
    
    Another gripe. As you reach the end of the M40(north) and want to
    continue north, the signs tell you to take the M42(east) go round the
    rhs of Birmingham then join the M6. In fact you can go left along the
    M42(west) following the signs to Bristol and the SW, then just past
    J1(A38) there is a link road onto the M5(north). Why isn't this
    signposted ??? It's much shorter than the posted route !
    
    I usually get on the new M40 at the A34 near Oxford. Does anyone know
    of a decent exit nearer to Reading. I don't want to actually drive
    through Reading from Wokingham (hence the M4/A34 choice)
    
    Ian
    

    
    
    I didn't realise that !! 
    
    I have always used M42 (EAST) and got on the M6 from there. It seems to
    be a bit of a zig zagged journey. I will try your way..as I have to 
    get to the WALSALL junction 10 (M6). 
    
    I would also like to know is this the quickest way to get onto the M40
    from Basingstoke. A339 to Newbury (nasty road) A34 thru Oxford to the 
    M40..! 
    
    craig..
    
    PS..If I get lost I will blame you !!
        Especially if i end up in bristol
    
    
    
    

     The advantage of taking the Easterly route round B'ham is that you miss
     the queue on the M5 where it joins the M6. OK, so you still have to slow
     down on the M6 as the M5 joins it, but I reckon it's still quicker.

     Peter

>>>"up north"

>If you consider the M40 "Up north" you need your Geography adjusting
>It isnt even the Midlands!!!

It's South Central :-)

    Re: Wokingham to an M40 Junction
    
    Try M4 to J8/9 then A404 to Junction 4. This may not look the quickest
    way on the map, but it is.
    
    
    Geoff

      RE: M5 / M6 junction - I heard that the road works here were about to 
      finish.... so you shouldn't have to slow down as much....

      Have they finished, or did I hear a nasty rumour??

    
    They were exactly the same this weekend !!
    
    "miracle's don't happen that easily !!"
    
    Its a real pain because at 8 o'clock on a sunday evening just before I
    was due to return to Basingstoke, I noticed there was a huge tail back.
    
    Thats the last thing I'd thought would have happened on a sunday eve,
    yes ok...I'd expect it through rush hour !!
    
    
    craig
    
    

    Re .7
    
    OK OK...
    
    I meant "up to the North"
    
    Ian (from Burnley twinned with Shangri La..)
    

    Coming south from the M6 to the M40, going West of Birmingham (M5) and
    then South of (M42) is definitely both shorter and quicker.
    
    Today I tried from M1 South to M40 via M69 and then A46 (East of
    Coventry, West of Warwick). Reckon it saved me 15mins over my usual A43
    (via Towcester) route and mileage was about the same. It's dual
    carriageway minimum.
    
    JK
    

    
    I've tried both ways between the M40 and M6 - distance wise I don't
    think there's much difference, but going West (via the M5) is quicker -
    there's probably two reasons for this;
                                                      
    
    1- The signs direct all traffic to the East (This means as more people
    realise it's quicker to ignore the signs, going West will get slower)
    
    2- The M5 is 'fairly' quiet at this time of the year, but as holiday
    traffic builds up,there probably won't be much to choose between the
    two. 
    
    Paul

    Reference my first note on the M40/M5/M6 debate, I've just remembered
    another advantage in taking M42(West) and picking up the M5(North) - 
    that is that you encounter Frankley Services if you need a pit stop.
    Taking the M42(East) to M6 means you have to wait until Hilton Park.
    
    Another school of thought might be that encountering Frankley Services
    is not an advantage at all.....
    
    Ian
    

    Re .15
    
    John, assuming you were heading for South Stoke, Did you leave the M40
    north of Oxford and come round the bypass, or stop on the M40 until
    Junction 7 and come down the A whatsit to that roundabout north of
    Wallingford ??
    
    A 15 minute saving sounds good to me (every minute counts when
    transporting the tiny Lindley)
    
    John

    I've tried cutting up to the M40 at both Chinnor and Wheatley. They
    both consume between 20-30 minutes depending on traffic conditions.
    
    Going "straight" to Oxford from Crowmarsh, on to the A34 and up to the
    M40 seems to get me a journey time of between 20-30 minutes, but that
    much further up the M40! So, although it's single carriageway and
    roundabouts, and grannies, and tractors, it still seems the best route
    for me.
    
    JK