Know Brum? you may find this interesting...

Originally Posted by aliwakeskate

Telly loves Brum!!

That view at 1:00 was exactly the view I had from my apartment except I was a few floors down. That's looking out over the top of New Street from the Rotunda.

[Paul the 6th]

so the roads were as mental back then as they are now?

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

so the roads were as mental back then as they are now?

No, at least you could drive them without being nearly killed by asian taxi drivers / drivers wishing to claim for whiplash.
They are ridiculous now, aint got a clue where you can drive legally as they have made it super complicated, for me anyway.

[Paul the 6th]

I just find that in this day & age of health & safety, how the Aston express way doesn't have a barrier up the middle, how the queens way doesn't have some kind of traffic control system for the shortest sliproads in the world (50 yards for both on & off traffic? Are they mental?) and just generally how bonkers the whole system is! I'd rather drive in London tbh

[MisterTommyH]

I've heard a lot of people who don't like the Aston Expressway or the queensway for the reasons you mentioned. Why does the A38 need a central reservation? It's 50mph like a lot of single carriage way roads that don't have barriers.

Personally I have no issue with it. It's just a different kind of driving/riding (I've always said that there are about5 different kinds of driving situations which are completely different from each other - City, Town, Country, Motorway and A Roads)

Never usually have a problem in Birmingham - especially in the week when it tends to be people who use the roads every day and are used to them. If I've ever had an issue it tends to be at weekends when people go into the city and aren't used to interchanges - and try and stop or join slowly.

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

I just find that in this day & age of health & safety, how the Aston express way doesn't have a barrier up the middle, how the queens way doesn't have some kind of traffic control system for the shortest sliproads in the world (50 yards for both on & off traffic? Are they mental?) and just generally how bonkers the whole system is! I'd rather drive in London tbh

The Aston Expressway is classed as a single carriageway road so it does not need a barrier. Just don't drive like a **** and no problem.

I've never even give the aston expressway a thought tbh, it's just a road.

The contraflow system works quite well, there is always 1 lane that is the gap between the two carriageways so it's safe.

[Paul the 6th]

Fair play it's not so dicey as to need a central res, but the real danger is on the east bound side heading towards Lichfield/m6 exits where all the nobs in German cars try to push in to the m6 lane & are quite happy sitting in the a4096 lane with 50mph traffic having to get around them sharpish. As for queens way, if you miss that turning for icc/symphony hall, broad street etc. that's 10 mins on your journey trying to get bloody back to it. As for working near Birmingham hippodrome/china town area, great food/terrible one way system.

[Bri w]

That can't be Brum!! There's no traffic, or foreign cars

[Paul the 6th]

Or foreigners...