Much has been written here about the new drop off zone and the pedestrian crossing holding up the traffic so I have spent the last few mornings analysing the problem since the crossing point to the short term car park closed just by watching the traffic flows inside the zone.
While the drop off crossing point is where the jams end the crossing hasn't been that busy at 6 in the morning with quite long gaps between passengers wanting to use it, as many arriving passengers just cross the road further down the lane as the official crossing point is hard to see in the dark.
The fact that there is now just a single drop off lane causes many other problems such as when cars pull into tight spaces they can stop traffic, cars dropping off in the middle of the lane rather than by a empty kerb further along. Also drivers stopping on the crossing to talk to the crossing keeps again stops all traffic. A combination of all these factors means that the drop off lane can't cope with the vast amount of traffic heading for it at peak times so it starts to back up for the best part of a mile bring all the approach roads to the airport to a standstill.
The whole concept of a narrow single lane where nothing can pass just doesn't work and one wonders if traffic management consultants were brought in to view the design.
So what next? With a station opening in 2021 the drop off lane is going to have to be moved into the short term car park but one has to question how many attempts does the airport need to get it right. I have lost count how many times it has been tinkered with or moved since 1999 and not one of those attempts has ever come close to fixing the problem.
So what is going to change for next summer when the duel carriageway is finished? As far as I can see nothing except it will take traffic longer to back up to the Ibis roundabout thus blocking all the approach roads as the tailbacks first start, as there will be two lanes to share the pain but the queue times will be the same.