A45 – will the pain be worth the gain?

A45 – WILL THE PAIN BE WORTH THE GAIN?

 

Major road works at the junction of Kenilworth Road with the A45 Fletchamstead/Kenpas Highway started early in the new year and have now been in progress for several weeks. In the short term this has caused considerable disruption with large tailbacks during peak times, affecting worst the residents most local to the junction, who have no way of avoiding it.

Oops! There is no right turn here in theory but confusion reigns.
Oops! There is no right turn here in theory but confusion reigns.

By the time this issue of ECHO is on sale the temporary ban on right turns into Kenilworth Road from the A45, in both directions, should be more or less at an end, as it was scheduled to be in place for only three of the ten week duration of the works.

The justification for the project, which is being funded through the EU, includes promised benefits for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians as follows:

  • Providing a second right turn lane from Kenilworth Road coming out of the city onto the A45 westbound. This is about the balance of vehicle numbers between straight on/left and right turning. Tailbacks of right turning traffic with the current one lane cause congestion up towards the War Memorial Park by blocking straight on and left turning traffic.
  • A new toucan crossing across the A45 (Fletchamstead Highway) will enable pedestrians and cyclists to cross more safely and will give continuity on the Coventry to Kenilworth cycle route.
  • A new puffin crossing across Kenilworth Road (on the university side) will help pedestrians cross the junction.
This tailback on Kenilworth Road back towards Earlsdon is what the changes to the junction with the A45 are designed to prevent, but for the duration of the works we can expect it to be worse.
This tailback on Kenilworth Road back towards Earlsdon is what the changes to the junction with the A45 are designed to prevent, but for the duration of the works we can expect it to be worse.

More controversial is the decision to remove from the traffic light phases the right hand filter from the A45 into Kenilworth Road from both directions. This means that right turning traffic will only be able to turn in a rare break in oncoming traffic or as the lights change. It is claimed that this is the most common arrangement at junctions and because there will only be three phases of lights instead of four as currently; this will allow more time for all vehicles and therefore make it run more efficiently.