Queuing on Hard Shoulder?

[Matt62]

My first post on this forum and something that as a supposedly 'Advanced' (ROSPA Gold for a good few years) driver, I am completely baffled and confused by. In recent months it seems to have become customary at one of the junctions on my daily commute (M11/A428 near Cambridge) for queues to form on the Hard Shoulder. In my view this is not only illegal, but also extremely hazardous. Before the junction there are a couple of message board signs that often say 'Queue On Slip Road'. I think these are to warn of slowing traffic, but are being wrongly interpreted as an instruction to use the Hard Shoulder. For obvious reasons, approaching the junction correctly in the left hand lane is now dangerous (those queuing on the hard shoulder do not believe that they should give way to those on the carriageway!), whereas joining the hard shoulder queue is illegal and also quite hazardous (as it forms quite unpredictably and at relatively high speeds). Have other forum members encountered similar situations and if so, what did you do? I am thinking of finding a new route to work......

[akirk]

I am not sure it is any more hazardous than queues in lane 1 - but certainly illegal unless there are signs instructing traffic to use the hard shoulder - not that unusual...

Alasdair

[Matt62]

I think it is the uncertainty that makes it much more dangerous than a Lane 1 queue. If the message boards were to indicate that the Hard Shoulder should be used for the next junction (as you say not that uncommon now) the situation would be much better. Without this instruction you have some people diving into a static Hard Shoulder queue at the last minute whereas others (driving quite legally) come into conflict with the Hard Shoulder queue at the junction from traffic travelling much faster than would be the case if Lane 1 of a two lane road was queuing.

[kewlcol]

Hi Matt. That is a difficult one to know what to do for the best. Do you go along with everyone else who is breaking the law or stand out on your own, at risk by abiding by the rules of the road. And it may be finding a different route to keep yourself safe is the answer. I would although have a word with the traffic officers of the highway agency or even motor patrol department of your local Police. Ask if they are aware of this and what their guidance is. I am sure you will get a positive response.

[Matt62]

The (relative) lack of response is interesting or maybe heartening? Have I found the only junction in the country where this type of unauthorized Hard Shoulder queuing occurs?

[gannet]

Certainly not something I've ever seen other than where it is allowed on managed motorways.

[TR4ffic]

I’ve seen and been involved in queuing on the hard shoulder at J15/16 southbound on the M5 – M4/M5 Almondsbury interchange. Coming southbound through the interchange and wanting to exit at J16 onto the A38 there is a lot going on in a short space and at busy times results in queuing back onto the main carriageway – Traffic wanting to exit here has to cross the M4 to M5 south traffic. To be honest, it’s a poorly designed junction.

So, what do you do? If a queue is forming on the sliproad I certainly don’t want to be the first to end up stationary at the back of the queue in L1 – that’s a disaster waiting to happen. If I arrive later and the queue has already formed on the hard shoulder it’s difficult not to join at the back of the queue as the alternative is to use the outside lane of the sliproad and ‘muscle’ you way in later.

Queuing on the sliproad may be illegal but taking a pragmatic approach and ‘going with the flow’, in this situation, seems the best option… I’ve not seen nor am aware of the BiB taking issue with anyone for doing this.

[Matt62]

Interesting responses! It is the junction before the A14 one (heading North) that I am talking about, but obviously the practice has now spread at least to the next junction! The queue begins in the outside lane of the sliproad for the right turn (Madingley Road) heading into Cambridge. The inside lane is always clear, but blocked by traffic moving from the Hard Shoulder queue.

I take the point about safety in numbers but still believe that without an actual instruction to use the Hard Shoulder, the situation is far more dangerous than lane one queuing. I have seen the queue stretch well beyond the distance markers, so that anyone not familiar with this local practice would not immediately equate cars on the hard shoulder with the next junction, or would realise at the last minute and dive in from 70mph - one effect of the practice is to maintain the speed of the other two lanes.

Lane one queuing whilst not without its hazards (particularly for the first car on the main carriageway), seems to develop its own dynamics and the whole road slows down. Here you get two lanes at normal speed and a nose to tail Hard Shoulder queue.

[Ancient]

I think that queueing on the hard shoulder is probably an unintended consequence of hard shoulder running and making the HS a lane on the approach to junctions on such motorways: Drivers get used to the idea of queueing behind that solid white line and transfer the idea - and practice - to where it is not officially recognised. The safety downside is obviously that on M'ways where it is official, there are monitoring cameras (supposedly) ensuring breakdowns are promptly dealt with and 'refuge areas' to supplement the repurposed HS; these don't exist (even in theory) where the practice is unofficial.

Isn't the 'correct AD' choice if the queue extends to the end of the HS, to re-route via another exit to avoid becoming a stationary object in a fast traffic stream? Of course this takes time, and discipline ... and probably an alternate planned route (or a decent sat-nav ).

[Matt62]

Yes, I hadn't really considered it but I suppose this (lack of infrastructure) is the reason why the authorities don't take the easy way out and put a HS queuing instruction on the information signs at these junctions.

I agree that going on to the next junction would be the correct 'AD' response, but this would take a lot of willpower if the next junction was 15 miles further on!

It would be interesting to speculate what people would do if faced with stationary traffic on the main carriageway at a junction where they often find themselves queuing on the HS. I suspect they might be much more likely to feel 'entitled' to move across.....

[akirk]

So what do you do / the rest of the motorway do if you come across a broken down car in one of the lanes / and accident / debris in the road / etc.? As a driver you might hope to see what is happening with a certain degree of anticipation / time ahead, is there any way in which you can partially control following traffic by slowing down / hazards / etc. to make a safe transition to the queue?

Alasdair

[Matt62]

Ignoring the HS issue for a moment your point is exactly right, if a queuing slip road or other obstruction coincides with heavy traffic on the motorway itself, then a reasonably aware driver should be able to bring a lane gradually to a stop without any drama. However a queuing slip road coinciding with very light M-Way traffic is potentially a lot more dangerous, and here the AD approach should definitely be to avoid being the first static car in the main carriageway.

[Alex]

Though it's not on my usual morning commute, it is a junction I use reasonably regularly and I was as surprised as you to find this practice in operation. The problem is the long queue to turn right at Junction 13 (M11/A1303), something which makes the hard shoulder queuing situation particularly hazardous, as all the cars in the hard shoulder pile into the right lane of the slip road when they finally get there, in direct conflict with any people pulling in at the end of the queue. I can only see this situation getting worse when the new NW Cambridge development of the university is built, putting even more traffic pressure on J13.

In short, it's a very unsatisfactory situation, and I've deliberately tried to avoid the junction at morning rush in recent weeks because of it.

[Alex]

And for the record, the last time I used it, I planned to simply go straight on and use another route, but did so by using Lane 1 at 50-55mph (just to keep up with the lorries). As I approached the actual sliproad, with no-one behind me and a large gap opening up as the traffic moved forward from the hard shoulder queue as the lights changed on the sliproad, I was able to slip in at the end of the actual sliproad queue in safety (with a largely superfluous courtesy wave to the driver immediately behind!). However, I was fully prepared to simply carry straight on up the M11 if necessary...

[GJD]

I don't think this is a phenomenon specific to the M11 around Cambridge is it? I drive up and down the M11 too and I've no doubt the M11 is one of the places I've seen it - the southbound exit at Duxford for example. But I've seen it elsewhere too, and I'm sure I saw it before hard-shoulder-as-a-running-lane became a thing. I think it's just one of the solutions the groupthink sometimes converges upon when traffic is heavy enough that the exiting queue extends some way back up the motorway. In those circumstances, my impression is that queueing on the hard shoulder is not a particularly unusual thing to see on motorways.

I'm pretty sure I'd feel safer in the queue on the hard shoulder than having to slow right down or stop in the live lane 1 as I tried to merge into the queue. Legality would be a lesser concern for me.