BINO: Bypasses In Name Only

[mjr]

Over in another discussion, the oft-proposed Boston bypass came up and I opined that King's Lynn's "bypasses" aren't really bypasses because the former routes remain available to through traffic, so the new road has mainly meant more and bigger jams when it jams. Same story in Wisbech, Chatteris, March, Ely, Cambridge, Norwich, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford: all BINOs.

So that's got me thinking: what bypasses in the UK are actually bypasses? That is, the former route is no longer a valid through route. I can think of three: Truro, Elveden and Stoke Ferry!

[Lance Dopestrong]

Thr new Weedon by pass really seems to have done the trick. Sure, the traffic can still drive through on the A45, but it was such a dire road that no one does and its slashed the traffic through the villages.

Of course, it was designed on the cheap so it's not dual carriageway and car pilots hoon like eejuts along its lovely fresh tarmac, chomping at the bit to overtake one another. This means 3 people have died in head-ons since it opened last year.

So, they've eased congestion, but at the cost of dead people instead. The upside is that its now massively safer to cycle around the area.

[Cyril Haearn]

I know a bit of road that is a sort of bypass, it took more than 20 years to plan and build, nobody realised that a nearby motorway had made it unnecessary!!!
Or maybe Uncle Magnus's phrase 'I've started so I'll finish!' applied
Someone said it was like promising a toddler a tricycle, twenty years later the trike was delivered
Plusminus, the old road through the woods was closed to motors, it is good for cycling

[Bmblbzzz]

When Stroud bypass opened, it was made impossible to drive through the town heading west to east. East to west remained possible though taking slightly longer than before. I think both directions are now open again now.

[gaz]

So that's got me thinking: what bypasses in the UK are actually bypasses?

I can think of a few town centre ring roads that bypass the town centre itself, where the route through the town centre has subsequently closed. I doubt that's what you are considering.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Wyre Piddle. The railway bridge is restricted to "buses, cycles and emergency vehicles only".

It's an interesting case in point, though, because the bypass was intended to serve two purposes. First, a village bypass; but second, to enable the A44 to be rerouted to follow the north bank of the Avon from Evesham to Pershore, not the south bank, and thereby relieve traffic in Pershore itself. It's succeeded on the first point, but not so much on the second: Pershore is still clogged. There is now (inevitably) a plan to build another new relief road in Pershore in the hope that might work...

[mjr]

So that's got me thinking: what bypasses in the UK are actually bypasses?

I can think of a few town centre ring roads that bypass the town centre itself, where the route through the town centre has subsequently closed. I doubt that's what you are considering.

In general, no. Both Norwich and Cambridge fall into that category too, but the ring roads were never promoted as allowing that closure and aren't called bypasses. I'm looking for ones where the through route closed as part of the development.

[honesty]

Ashby de la Zouch got a bypass from Nottingham road round to Burton road. Much quicker than going through the town centre. Opened after i left school there though so can't say I've much experience with it.

[Oldjohnw]

40 years ago the A1 in Northumberland went through al of these town centres and now all are totally bypassed: Morpeth, Felton, Alnwick, Belford, Berwick.

[thirdcrank]

Looking at this from the POV of the big misters who cater for motor traffic, a bypass is intended to keep through traffic out of a town etc., primarily to speed up longer journeys AKA remove bottlenecks. A side effect may be to make things better for the locals. Making things better is widely seen as including the ability to drive into the bypassed place and park. The growth in motor traffic which has led to the building of bypasses isn't confined to long journeys. Various stick-and-carrot strategies have eventually been tried such as parking restrictions and park-and-ride, but few if any reduce overall motor traffic by much.

[pwa]

The nearest bypass to me is at Llantwit Major, a small town, and while through traffic can go through the town centre it tends not to because the bypass is so much easier. And mostly the town centre is good with most traffic just locals or shoppers. I'm happy to cycle in the town or on the bypass, though the town is nicer. It works well in this case.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Llant ... 6?hl=en-GB


It has never been my understanding that a bypass is meant to be accompanied by blocking the town centre off to through traffic. The bypass is usually meant as a quicker and easier alternative, making a cut through the centre the less attractive alternative with speed bumps and more traffic lights.

(Edit)
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.40946,- ... 6?hl=en-GB
It may be small but Llantwit Major is actually quite sorted in terms of motor traffic. In this image you can see one of the roads looking about as busy as it ever gets. And you can see two car parks. The one on the right is for the shopping centre. The one on the left is for the railway station that allows commuters to ditch the car and commute to Cardiff by rail. That is popular. That car park is usually closer to being full so I'm guessing we are looking at a low usage time. But through traffic just keeps to the bypass. No reason not to.

[millimole]

So, as I've often thought--the examples given, show that by-passes are in reality relief roads, not by-passes at all.
True by-pass roads are, in my experience, only seen in France (and I'm sure, other civilised countries) where no through route remains for private motorists, and the town centre becomes two (or more) cul de sacs.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my KFDOWI using hovercraft full of eels.

[mjr]

40 years ago the A1 in Northumberland went through al of these town centres and now all are totally bypassed: Morpeth, Felton, Alnwick, Belford, Berwick.

Some of those are arguable IMO because the "bypasses" are much shorter than the former routes but only Belford appears to have had the former through route cut at one end.

Those arguing that bypasses do not need the through route removed: what do you think the difference is between a bypass and a relief road?

[mjr]

[...] But through traffic just keeps to the bypass. No reason not to.

Reasons may include sat navs rerouting onto the old route due to congestion on the "bypass" from a collision or - as happens in King's Lynn - a botched junction rebuild that doesn't allow one frequently-dominant flow through well. Maybe Llantwit Major with its B road bypass doesn't get enough traffic to see that problem as often as a town or city where 5 A roads converge, but it looks like the basic design flaw is present.

[thirdcrank]

Purely subjective, but I fancy that in many of the market towns bypassed on the A1 and other main roads, the local traffic is now heavier than the through traffic was when they were by-passed. That's especially so if you include late evenings.