Thursday, May 18, 2006

Site review 2

Pathetic Motorways

I may not be British, but from looking at the reviews of small, disused, outdated, and demolished motorways in Britain may seem at first to be something inane, but it comes out gold when you delve deeper into it.

The site is part of a larger group of sites, the Society for All British Road Enthusiasts, whose focus is to convey the history and habit behind roads running across the world, but primarily the ones in Britain. Several of the sites are photo galleries and sites that focus on one specific area of the UK, but this one is generally universal in that respect and full of comedy value to boot. Steven Jukes, the owner of the site, is also the current President at SABRE's forums and is usually revered as an expert on highways.

A lot of what he says is brutally honest. Firstly, we have the M271 in Southampton. It starts at the A3059, crosses the M27 through an inconvenient rotary interchange, and remains in poor condition up until the sharp bend at the Redbridge Towers complex. Then we see the unfinished Glasgow Inner Ring Road, which kind of reminds us of 1970 Boston with the protest against the I95. And then we see a large map, the Might Have Been Map, tht compares the existing motorway system in the UK against the original schemes — we see roads that failed to come to fruition, such as the M64, and the motorways in London that once were up until an independent agency took control of them all. Amidst it all we have the occasional 'Truly pathetic!' that indicates laziness or inefficacy in the road's planning, and the dismay at having to stop for a traffic signal whilst charging down at 70 miles per hour (115 km/h).

Beyond providing a vivid insight into the transport system in the UK and its flaws, it's a good reserve of laughter induction by means of dry humour, which I expect you to take account of.

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