It’s been a quiet year for Roads.org.uk, but we will be back to our usual schedule soon.
You’ll have seen that Roads.org.uk has been quiet for a few months now. This website is a one man band, and I’ve been unavoidably kept away by real life. 2023 hasn’t been an easy year.
That’s meant missing, or delaying, things I’d have liked to write about. There’s been lots of transport news in the last six months - the cynically misnamed “Network North” programme, the scaling back of RIS2 projects and the hollowing out of RIS3 for starters. The series of posts celebrating the centenary of road numbering has lost its momentum too.
So, this is just a short post to do two things. One is to say hello, yes, I am still here! From January, I’ll be back posting new material regularly again, hopefully including some of the above.
The second is to let you know that, even if 2023 has been very light on new blog posts, a lot has happened behind the scenes. You might not have noticed, but…
- Our Motorway Database Chronology Maps have been completely overhauled, with new (and more accurate) data and new interactive mapping. You can click through to find detailed information about each individual construction project. I’m very grateful to the members of SABRE for the research behind this.
- Our years-long project to introduce vector graphics to Motorway Database exit lists, which involved redrawing thousands of junction diagrams one by one, has been completed. You can read our post explaining the start of this work from 2020.
- We’ve started updating our Interchanges pages, which are pushing 20 years old, with new graphics and amended text. We’re planning much bigger re-writes of these pages in the coming year.
There’ll be more to do in the coming months, and I’m also hoping to (finally) unveil the completed Ringways map, showing the whole of London as it would have been with its unbuilt motorway network. That will be hosted as part of SABRE Maps.
But for now, have a very merry Christmas, and I’ll see you in the New Year.
Comments
Hear, hear. I wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2024.
Hi Chris, as Matthew stated, no need to apologise as the updates are always interesting and it does not matter if they are many or few. Everyone has a life outside of the internet. Look forward to the final Ringways chapter. Have a good Christmas & 2024 yourself.
Hello from Toronto. Just wanted to say I fell in love with your content a while back, the Ringways page is astounding. Can't find anything like it elsewhere. I always wondered why London didn't have a lot of highways like we do here in Toronto, although transit is not up to par here like London. Your Ringways page did wonders and would love to see more transport enthusiasts come up with similar blogs for their cities. Looking forward to those remaining Ringways pages man, cheers and Merry Christmas to you too.
The second point alone renders the "quietness" statement false IMHO. The biggest amount of work is often in such not-so-apparent places.
Only recently discovered this site, so I have plenty of catching up to do. Love it, just right up my street (is that a pun?). Love the article on the A601(M) and the Mancunian Way. Lot more reading to do. best wishes all for the New Year
When is the full Ringways project expected to arrive? I'm wondering because is says, 'Expected 2023' and it's 2024 now...
Hopefully this year? But I haven’t written the two remaining pages yet so it’s all to play for.
You should honestly go back to doing articles and photo galleries like you used to, there have been no new ones in 5 years. Also, make Imperfectly Odd a separate page in the features section.
Maybe you should drop the "single handed labour of love" stuff and allow other people to write articles? There are a lot of people with expertise who could write them and it kind of feels like you're banishing them to the wonks on SABRE no-one listens to.
Chris, your site is superb and you should be proud of what you have achieved with it. Above all, you don't need to apologise and/or provide explanation as to why it hasn't seen recent updates. We are all patient folk and- whenever those updates come- we will be ready to absorb them. Thanks for your continued support and best wishes for '24.