A11. At last a date --What are your memories of the old road ?

[Boaters]

Driving to and from Norfolk since the 60s on the old A11 ,in those days it was on single lane roads which went through all the towns on the way taking many hours .i remember in those days we would stop at the memorial at Thetford for a rest ,top up the radiator ,and have some sandwiches and tea from a flask , sitting on the car rug that was a part of you travel kit.Now we will do that same journey to Norwich in theory with out having. to come to a halt at all. Roy

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/a11_opening_looking_set_to_bring_christmas_cheer_1_3867129

[donnygeoff]

I am too young to remember the old days, but your thread title made me chuckle, thinking about a travel update on the radio some years back...

 

The travel news reader, I think it was the one on radio 2, gave the travel news starting from up north, saying something like...

 

The A62 in scotland between ..... and .... is blocked by an accident, it may take time to remove the vehicles involved......

 

Then she got further down the country she said....

 

Oh dear, this looks really bad, ALL Cambridge is blocked, I don't know why, but we will get back to you as soon as we find out the details....

 

Then giggling like a school girl, she said.....

 

Sorry for that, it is not ALL Cambridge, it is the A11 that is blocked near Cambridge......I wish I could read his writing....

 

[Jim]

I know what you mean Roy when you mentioned the old A11.  Since the mid eighties I have had a good few customers in Norwich and surrounding area and it seemed to take a lifetime to get there!!

[SueH]

Great news - next time we go up there in February it might be open!

 

Many's the time we have stopped at the Acorn on the old single carriageway just to have a break and give the dog a chance to stretch his legs.

 

SueH

[Baitrunner]

I agree. I am at a loss to understand why the last few bits seem to be taking a lot longer than the the main event has.

 

I wonder if they don't want to finish too early in case their next project gets scrutinised a lot more.

 

I have to use it every week and it is getting tedious now seeing it so close to being finished, yet.so far.

 

Only 5 more trips through the road works for me this year though     

[BroadScot]

We had a 40mph from Kilmarnock to the outskirts of Glasgow joining the M77 for nearly three years, while the final piece of the M77 was built. Tedious it was, but I suspect its the safety barrier final checks that is causing the hold up. 

 

Iain.

[Baitrunner]

Might be, but they have been up for months and it just seems like little bits of drainage on the soft verge that are holding things up. At times the traffic has been quicker than it used to be, but coming through there at 1am on Sunday with a 40mph limit     

[keifsmate]

It has looked as though the road has been pretty much completed for some time now. I can only suppose the Highways agency has dragged its feet in accepting the road so as to save paying an early completion bonus!

[Baitrunner]

I still view the war memorial as a good sign I am nearly home.

We always refer to it as the pineapple. If you look at the top you can see why- or do I just have bad eyes and an over active imagination?

[Boaters]

I did hear they make checks on all aspects of the road the barriers ,as said ,road surface ,even the surface thickness of the Tarmac and road signs.before they sign it off and hand it over.i agree its been a tease all these weeks ,when it looks ready to use ,still will be up and running in time for Christmas ,all being well. Roy

[Wussername]

I heard from a commercial driver, a trucker that uses the A11 every night that the road is finished. It is complete. It could be open tomorrow.

But it will not happen.

It is a contractual matter. Who is financially responsible for the road. Damage caused by storm, subsidence, an act of god, who knows?

The actual hand over date, agreed by all parties is all important, not least of which is insurance. Material and public.

It is then, and only then will it be open to the public. Until that time you will have to conform to the delays and speed limits that are in place.

Old Wussername

[Mowjo]

All my memories of the A11 surround Red Lodge Cafe, on the way up from London it was always stop for a full English and on the way back it was stop for a full English, unless it was full up we would always sit in the train carriage, the lady that ran the counter knew both the wifes and my order and our names but in the twenty years I used the place I didn't know hers, I think I must have met every truck drivers that used the cafe at some point, and even had a few dodgy deals with some of them, if Jude was on a night out with the girls I'd often drive up to Red Lodge just for a bacon sarnie, cup of tea and a chat, when they did the by-pass it was never the same so I didn't use it as much, the last time was around five years ago or more on the way back home from London and the same Lady was still at the counter, back when I used it, it was always brimming with people, the last time there were about four people in there, the by-pass killed it but I think they are still going,,,

 

Frank,,,, 

[Boaters]

Have not been that way since the by pass and did not know the Cafe was still .there.funny how you remember the food before the place.!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I should think the road will open then if not earlier.

 

We used it this weekend and the road looks finished - The only thing that seems to be stopping it flowing normally is the cones and the 40mph limit..

 

 

It was exactly the same when we went up in October. But that was after the closure due to an accident between the M11 and the junction of the A14.  I did notice they were doing works on lanscaping on various banks, so i assumed it was still down to one lane and 40mph because of that. Of course, i could be completely wrong, and they`re really just leaving the 40 limit to bag a load in speeding fines, or is that me being just a tad synical again?. :naughty:

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Seriously though,

 

I remember back in 1980 when i was a mechanic for a sidecar racing team, we used to drive to Snetterton from North Kent, and used to go up the M11 / A11. It all seemed to take such a long time in the van with all the bike and kit, but when we did it on our bikes one weekend, it took an hour and a half, and that was well before all the bypasses were built, and it was single carraigeway nearly ALL the way from the M11. I think we might have gone over the speed limit occaisionally, but not by much i`m sure  :naughty: .

[Boaters]

Ah Speedy you must have been one of those that would pass us on the Six Mile Bottom at Newmarket ,I was told that it was one of the few places that they could do a "ton"( 100 mph ) if you had the right bike ?

[Mowjo]

Jonzo! as I said I used Red Lodge Cafe a lot back then, it was a a den of dodgy, whatever you wanted someone had it or knew someone that could get it for you off the back of a lorry, and all genuine stuff not fake, booze and fags were always there, I bought most of my power tools there all Milwakee, mega expensive stuff and pretty rare in the UK, but none cost me over £5, one Christmas I came away with a Escort van full  of Turkeys, Geese and Booze, good Christmas for me I made a small fortune, it was always hush hush! but once the truck drivers got to know you, you couldn't go in without someone offering you something to buy for silly money, in the main car park you would often see vans being loaded from the trucks, I once saw four brand new Ford engines being loaded into a Transit from a Ford truck, when the truck driver came back in ho just nodded at me and said thats my holiday sorted, and I know for fact that the odd copper bought and sold stuff in there, but it was a different age back then, nearly everyone I knew had some sort of fiddle going on, some people will tut tut! but it was going on everywhere, yes it was a crime but no-one was getting hurt it was just the black market at work, one guy summed it up when he said, "If it's not nailed down we will have it, but we never steal from our own" unlike todays crime where they will steal from anyone and don't care if they hurt someone,,,

 

Frank,,,,