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Move Over, Newts!

Vaughan

By Vaughan
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Vaughan

Vaughan

Posted
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Seems that newts are not the current fashion, for totally blocking progress with road improvement. The new "champion" is the Little Whirlpool Ramshorn Snail.

They live (it is said, as they are very hard to find) in a ditch alongside the A47 Acle Straight, and have been "relocated" further into the marsh so that work to make the road safer by moving the ditches further away can finally start, after all this time, and so many deaths by drowning in cars.

But just hang on a minute! Highways England have announced that they must be sure that these tiny little critters have had time to settle into their new surroundings, as they are so vital to our natural environment, and so they will not be starting work on the road for the next 4 years.

Meantime, this winter, as your car swerves off the the road on the ice, into one of these death trap ditches, make sure you don't squash any Little Whirlpool Ramshorn snails, as their lives are more important than yours.

 

 

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marshman

marshman

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For what its worth,I doubt this is the only reason not to dual the Acle Straight!! There is nothing much wrong with the Acle Straight, merely the drivers - working average speed cameras with a 50mph limit would help matters.

I do not have to think too hard to think of greater priorities - the rest of the A47 westwards and parts of the A17 come to mind, both carrying a lot more traffic and more important from an infrastructure point of view!!!! 

My betting is the snails are just a good excuse and having moved them they might then begin think about it - open before 2030?? Possibly!!

 

 

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grendel

grendel

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My Uncle when they extended the Thanet way through Whitstable was Mayor of Canterbury, the road was gointg to be just next to his hedge, but he got it moved a further 50 yards away, when he happened to find some rare vole living in his hedge.

(nobody knows where he got it from and to this day he wont admit anything).

This was the same uncle who ended up with a metal plate in his skull from playing rugby, this however did come in handy when the local Gypsys used to shoot air rifles at him when he was out running, just keep your head down and keep running was his advice.

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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22 hours ago, marshman said:

There is nothing much wrong with the Acle Straight, merely the drivers -

There is one very important difference. The Halvergate marshes are a well known "frost hollow" where, especially in the early hours before dawn on a still night, the black ice will come down on the road very fast and with no warning. I have seen it like a skating rink many times. I have also seen a thick fog bank, rolling across the marsh at a running pace and suddenly blanking out the road. A dangerous place.

Gillingham Dam near Beccles is another such place which has had a big share of accidents over the years. Thankfully, that is now bypassed.

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