A6MARR Complementary Improvement Measures in Hazel Grove

by jontwigge on 19 November, 2017

The A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road (A6MARR) is expected to reduce traffic flow and congestion a little on some local roads in the surrounding areas, including some roads through Hazel Grove.

To find out more about the proposals, discuss them with the Stockport Council team and provide your comments we invite you to attend our drop-in session at Hazel Grove Library, Beech Avenue, 4-7pm on Tuesday 21st November 2017.

The Proposed View Under The Old A6 – From a Fly Through Video

It is normal for major road schemes like this to include mitigation measures for areas that will get busier and complementary measures where there will be reductions.  Complementary Measures can be to encourage walking and cycling and support district and local centres. These measures will be paid for out of the A6MARR budget.

From 14th November to 5th December 2017 Stockport Council is consulting with affected parties on the draft package of complementary measures that have been developed for Hazel Grove.

The list of measures is below – online you can click on the individual items for more details:  http://www.semmms.info/semmms/traffic-mitigation-complementary-measures/

1 – Davenport Road – Green Lane: Formalise cycle track status and review signing
2 – Commercial Road: Provide zebra crossing
3 – Grove Street: Provide contraflow cycle route
4 – Vine Street: Provide contraflow cycle route
5 – Chester Road / Grundy Street: Junction review
6 – Newby Road: Provide street lighting
7 – Rutters Lane – Newby Road: New off-carriageway cycle/pedestrian route link
8 – Station Street – Lowick Close: Widen path and convert to bridleway
9 – Allotment path: Formalise cycle track status (existing route)
10 – Chester Road: extend 20mph limit south of railway and narrowing of carriageway to reduce traffic speeds
11 – Brook Street: Improve cycle facilities at signalised junction
12 – Torkington Park: Widen footpath to accommodate shared cycle/footpath
13 – Torkington Park: Provide lighting to footpath
14 – Torkington Road / Offerton Road: Junction review, proposed mini-r’bout
15 – Melford Road: Footway construction and provision of bollards and barriers
16 – Racecourse Estate: Provide wayfinding cycle signs
17 – Mill Lane: Introduce A-frame barrier to allow through route for cyclists but preventing motorcyclists

You can give feedback at the drop in session at the library or alternatively, email the SEMMMs team at [email protected] or phone on 0161 474 2299.

The closing date for responses is 5th December 2017.

 

   7 Comments

7 Responses

  1. allan shaw says:

    why give opinions and responses when at the start of the SEMMS discussion the council andf planners etc totally ignored the absolute need for an underpass not traffic light chaos on macclesfield road compounded by the 5 ways traffic light fiasco and the motoring idiots who use Tesco express and NEVER look up and down Ashbourne road for local traffic. A revamp of the TESCO express EXIT is Urgently required along with double yellow lines on Ashbourne road adjacent to macclesfield road and Tesco express. I have complained vigourously to the councillors and local MPS who do NOTHING to make life for local residents a better place to live. PLEASE look at teh TESCO express exit and change it for the better of all. I have copied this to myself and look forward to an answer from someone which i doubt i will get.
    Local resident Darley Road/Ashbourne Road.

    • jontwigge says:

      Hi Allan,

      I agree with you – the Tesco exit is horrible to pull out of. What i would say right now is that the new road opening in a few months will change the pattern of the traffic here quite a lot. It would take months to change things anyway so I think the best thing to do right now is wait and see how it once the road is open. Two things that will probably change is that some of the traffic here will move to the new road and also, the new lights will mean that traffic comes more in bursts so it may be much easier to get out – I know it might not but I do think it is best to wait and see. Just a few months to go now before it finally opens.
      Thanks,

      jon

  2. Trefor Cannell says:

    I cannot believe that anyone would contemplate a mini roundabout at the Torkington Road/Offerton Road junction, at least the current, clear, priority given to traffic from the A6 and Marple Road directions affords some protection in the central reservation for those pedestrians wishing to cross at less than running pace! A mini roundabout here would see an increase in accidents/near accidents caused by differing opinions on who is stated in the Highway Code to have priority, those to the right ON a roundabout (correct), or anyone speeding along approaching the adjacent road to the right on that roundabout with no intention of giving any consideration to the system as it should be used (and there are plenty like that)!

    • paulankers says:

      Thank you Trefor,

      I see your point. This particular request is aimed at reducing danger and I hope it will. There is too much speeding on Offerton/Torkington Rd and a roundabout would reduce this. However, it mustn’t endanger the pedestrian. I will take a look today. I regularly use a roundabout off Bramhall Moor Lane, which works in a similar way to this proposal so I will look at that too from the pedestrian perspective.

      Paul

    • jontwigge says:

      Hi Trefor,

      as Paul said, the aim here is to reduce traffic on the road round the bends especially. It wasn’t my idea and I am not totally convinced it is the best value for money but the highway officers think it will slow traffic down. Of course they always aim to make things as safe as possible but I have passed on your comments to the team to make sure they are taken into account especially asking about pedestrians crossing.

      thanks,

      jon

  3. David Thomas Moore says:

    Hi Jon/Paul,

    Speed Cameras issuing fines are required on Torkington Road to stop people of all ages using all types of vehicles travelling up to 70 mph. I have seen it!

    If you put a mini-roundabout on that corner then traffic will not flow through properly and at busy times will back up even more to the Bullock Smithy pub (from the A6) if you are going towards Marple.

    The ultimate solution is to extend the ‘SEMMS A6’ road from Hazel Grove to the M60 at Bredbury. The same problem (albeit on a smaller scale) existed in Alderley Edge and it was deemed necessary to build a new by-pass that took traffic away from the village.

    It’s OK to think that the new bypass will take traffic off the A6 from Hazel Grove towards the airport but what about all of the traffic coming the other way towards Hazel Grove from the airport and M60?

    You can not have an unfinished section of a bypass/ring road as it is going to make the problem worse not better
    for the area it is trying to solve a problem for in the first place!

    Regards,

    David Moore

    • jontwigge says:

      Hi David,

      I agree with you completely. Speeding is becoming more and more of a problem as the police have less and less resources to enforce limits.

      Unfortunately it is really difficult to justify speed cameras officially unless there have been significant serious accidents, they are very expensive and can’t be placed in lots of places because of visibility etc.

      Personally I think we should be doing a lot more. Average speed cameras are a lot better but also expensive. I really would want these but I don’t get a lot of support from officers. I really hope that one day relatively soon driverless cars that record everything around them will start to reduce speeding and even stop most of it. I can’t see how they won’t have to report serious speeding and dangerous driving.

      Mark Hunter (ex MP for Cheadle) tells me that the first half was only built on the assumption the second half would go ahead – they just wouldn’t give us all the money at once because it was so expensive. Last week the Council voted to recommend proceeding with a full business case for the road to Bredbury.

      thanks,

      jon

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