In Australia roadworks were traditionally done by the local council, and though for many years it has been subcontracted out to private companies there is still a general image of ‘council workers’ who dress in reflective gear and sit by the roadside smoking cigarettes. I’ve discovered recently that it’s the same in England – except for the name.

All around the world I have seen this same phenomenon. I can’t imagine why the government needs to install traffic cones along a 3 mile stretch of the motorway where there is no appearance of any work being done or any damage to the road. Do they just do it for fun?

I decided that I needed to look this up on the web. The Highways Agency twitter account mentioned the closed lane:

#M6 northbound between J39 and J40 | Lane(s) blocked http://bit.ly/sutXS1

Still, I found it very difficult to find out WHY the lanes were blocked – as the highways agency doesn’t allow you to search in the past (though it’s helpful for the future – http://www.trafficengland.com/disruptions.aspx)

Eventually I found this on a cached version of the advanced driving website:

http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/traffic-reports/north-west-england/

M6 northbound between J39 and J40 | Northbound | Resurfacing

On the M6 northbound between junctions J39 and J40, minor delays can be expected at peak times due to carriageway resurfacing , between 8 pm and 6 am, from 5 February 2013 to 8 February 2013.

I passed through on the 9th of February, so I guess they finished the job and decided to leave the cones in place one more day (or more!). Oh well.

Yesterday I saw some guys doing works on the road while there was snow coming down and wind blowing it everywhere, so I guess that kind of makes up for it.