Highways

We have been sent a new protocol for asking highways to make alterations to the roads, designed to ensure that all Councillors can have their say on what is important in the ward. It involves a bit of interaction with the Local Area Partnerships, which is worrying because I've not encountered a problem recently that the LAP's aren't going to fix, and will need final approval from the Cabinet member. But the point is that local ward members can request things.

Which is good. Because if there's one thing that causes confusion between the electorate and myself it's that they think I have the power to do things I don't.

For example, parking in the town centre. I personally can't change it. I can't waltz into the car parks and stick new prices up to encourage shoppers. All I can do is raise the issue, debate the issue, come up with better ideas and lobby the relevant cabinet members. And that I'm doing.

Take also Ivy Lane - this is an area in the ward where speeding motorists are of concern to the residents. I've discussed this with highways, I've discussed this with the police. I've got the Rozzers to turn up (but they forgot their speed gun) and got the three most senior people from CE to come and see the issue for themselves.

But as yet there is no solution. And a couple of the residents are convinced its all my fault now - perhaps that'll teach me to get involved.

So anyway, back to the point.

After meeting to discuss issues, the councillors for Macclesfield West have submitted the follow issues. I thought you would be interested to see them. Initial responses from the highways department are in red:

Ivy Lane - frequent and regular speeding

This is a site of constant concern, and has been the subject of a visit from Cllr Fitzgerald, John Nicholson and Erika Wenzel who discussed concerns with a sizable group of residents.

Concerns are over speed both up and down the road, especially since there is now an increase amount of pedestrian school traffic over the last couple of years since the closing of Henbury High and the full opening of the learning zone.

Community use of SIDS?

Possible solutions could be chicanes or mini roundabouts, both at the top and bottom of the hill (Sycamore Road, Valley Road junctions).

Mini roundabouts work only where there is a deflection from a straight line at neither junction does Ivy Lane deviate, false deflections often do not work as most drivers straight line the mini roundabout.

Chicanes would work well at slowing the traffic during peak times but are not so successful off peak and can lead to increase in accidents at such times. Would we want to slow / stop traffic at peak times on this route?


Flowerpot Junction

Whilst lines for turning have been painted on the Ivy Lane, Park Lane axis this persists as a problem. The Ivy Lane direction is worst where traffic does not get forward and right enough to prevent straight through traffic from being blocked.

Whilst it may seem easy to blame this on the drivers, the uncomfortable truth is that there is not a large amount of space for them to move into, and the layout of the lines is slightly eccentric and unusual. When cars do get far enough right, this is startling for straight through head on traffic which has to swerve around them.

Solution would be to provide a proper turning lane by using the council owned land on the junction of Oxford Road and Ivy Lane to widen the junction. This will involve moving telecoms cabinets, CCTV and traffic lights.

The cost of the works within CEC control are manageable civil engineering £20k, CCTV £2k, Traffic signals £10k, the difficulty is the cost of BT moving cables and apparatus. The cost during the works at the junction was £76k and likely to be a similar amount. This additional cost and potential delay to the work prevented the widening being carried out during the recent contract.

As a cost benefit the scheme begins to look poor at £100k.


Fieldbank Road / Chester Road Junction

Traffic turning right into fieldbank road travelling out of town blocks vehicles wishing to go straight on. Needs additional lane which could be achieved by using the lay-bys in fieldbank road which are presently used for parking.

(Planning application due soon to modify this junction for a fourth spur, but it is not clear if a right turn lane will be provided at this time)

No right turn at present but negotiations are underway, the tree is a major problem for junction design as is the cost of moving the BT equipment priced by them at £120k in 2000 for the original junction works. There are four options for the TA access. Moving services is always very expensive.


Oxford Road - speed of traffic by school.
No desire for calming but possibly a speed indicator device.

No policy in place at the moment - device cost £5k assuming suitable power supply at location.


Gawsworth Road - additional parking

The top section of Gawsworth Road often has problems with parked cars. Would be possible to provide some better parking by utilising the grass verges.

It has never been part of the remit of a highway authority to provide parking, there is no absolute right to park on a highway only the right to pass and re-pass and it is our duty to uphold that right. If we accede to this deviation from policy there may well be a significant increase in requests for similar treatment for which the cost is substantial.

If we are to provide verge parking the verge will be excavated and the cross fall from the carriageway continued, a new kerb will have to be installed at the footway edge which may have to be re-set to match the new lower kerb height. New gullies will have to be installed. This is achievable though a fairly major scheme. The construction of the lay-by will be of the order £40/ sqm, each metre of kerb £16, each gully £600. Assuming a car needs 2.3m x 6m the cost will be £550 plus a gully. Footway cost will be £20/ sqm.

The unknown cost will be the resetting of all the services to the correct level to allow vehicular traffic, you will have noted the cost of the BT diversion at the Flower Pot and similar alteration costs may be expected for each service along the road.


Kendal Road - complaints about speed and traffic using as a cut through.

Matter compounded by Blind Bend. Traffic often held up by parked cars anyway - a permanent solution is unlikely to do better than this, but would be interest in costs and the thoughts of the highways department regardless.

Parked cars do offer a good traffic calming solution; there have been no injury accidents recorded on Kendal Road in the last 3 years. The carriageway is narrow and most drivers take things slowly and give and take round the cars. Community SIDs may offer some additional traffic calming.