To think there really should have been a sign on the motorway?

[lilaccottagegarden]

Have been trapped on the m6 travelling south for two and a half hours and showing no signs of alleviating. DS (21 months) getting very upset.

Why on earth don’t they put some sort of warning up? From what I’ve seen on twitter it’s a junction closure so plenty of chances.

I was on the M6 southbound towards Manchester earlier and there were loads of signs..

This is so poor. I'm sorry to read this OP.

I'm dropping ds1 at Nottingham next week. So won't affect me. But plenty of other parents will be dropping their children at many unis including Manchester etc.

Forgot to say, I joined only 2 junctions up and the only sign was after Lancaster, ie too late!

You've missed the signs, they are there.

It still looks like theres no signage from the Lakes to warn people. Which is rubbish - plus weekends only so no warning when DH left on his way up (midweek) that this was even a thing.

Actually this isn't the case. I know this because I was discussing the issue with a family member as several family members were taking this route today. Fortunately I was already aware of the issue because of the complaints from yesterday on social media. However, when I looked at Google Maps this morning it had the M6 open. There were also mixed messages from the Highways Agency about the status of M6.

So I sympathize OP because I think this has been badly managed.

My partner was trapped in this for hours yesterday too, he saw people crying in other cars. People we’re tweeting about being there for 5+ hours with no water, pregnant women, children and the elderly all jus Tati know.

Apparently the police went out with home made signs in the end to try to help! Surely highways should be prosecuted for failing to put up appropriate signage??

Sorry that should read ‘all just stuck’

Also I drove from Edinburgh to Carlisle last night and there were no signs. Which isn't good enough for people travelling from Scotland to anywhere south of Lancaster.

The signs weren’t up for people joining at the lakes, @JubileeTissues

I'm driving from Scotland to Warrington on a Saturday later this month. Is there a suitable diversion? I've looked at a map and it seems like I'll need to get off well before Lancaster and travel miles to the east before trying to rejoin the M6.

Go on motorwaycameras.co.uk , always shows if there’s an incident

Not necessarily. My friends were in a car crash on a motorway. He had to be cut out of the vehicle and airlifted to hospital, but because of the nature of his injuries (he was crushed between the steering wheel and a concrete post) it actually took a very long time. I’d assume that then the accident scene had to be investigated by the police, distances measured etc then the carriageway cleared.

We're local ish and apparently there are no signs until it's too late, which is so strange as usually planned closures are advertised well in advance and for long distances. The A6 isn't really a suitable alternative for that amount of traffic.

I hope your friend is okay @Soontobe60

Four hours stuck, we are still driving but thankfully traffic moving normally. Poor DS, he’s been so good.

Is there no way of going on the Friday? I honestly don’t think I could cope with that again!

It's a pain in the arse if you live where it's been diverted through. We can't move. Nose to tail traffic, caravans everywhere and the roads not suitable for the traffic

There have been warnings on social media but maybe you have to know where to look. I’ve cancelled plans for the next few weekends because no way am I joining that stretch.

Its been a disaster.

I once had similar when I had been to a garden centre with a friend and our young ish babies. We were stuck for 4 hours. My friend’s baby was bottle fed and had had the milk her mum had packed for her. She started screaming about half an hour after we got stuck and yelled for 45 minutes. In the end, I had to breastfeed my friends baby as we didn’t know what to do.

Friend was stuck in it for 9 hours yesterday. Relative was travelling north and said she passed miles is no traffic heading south followed by MILES of stationary traffic in the south bound side.

Junction 33 near Lancaster isn't it?
If so that junction is closed every weekend for the next 4 weekends!
Extremely annoying! I was on the a6 earlier and the traffic was backed up the whole way between Lancaster and Barton!

Honestly cannot recommend using Waze enough over google maps for things like this. It’s updated live by other users so even sudden road closures you know about quickly. I also find that google maps tends to tell you that it’s heavy traffic but just let you sit in it, while Waze will proactively find a way around it wherever possible. It’s got me round to horrible bits of traffic E recently.

So sorry you got stuck in it, sounds awful.

Cumbria Road Watch is a great FB page for this kind of thing - they update daily and this closure has been advertised on there for weeks now.

I always use Waze instead. It always seems to update in real time of any accidents and diverts you to the shortest route.

Bit late for today but I always use m.highwaysengland.co.uk/ for motorway traffic flow before long journeys.

Motorway signage is a bit sporadic. There's one on my commute home not far after I join that has said "End" every time I've driven past it for the last year. I've joined a junction further up a few times to see what it's the end of but the preceding signs have always been blank!