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Author Topic: Middlewood Way  (Read 5251 times)

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jimblob

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #24 on: April 23, 2019, 02:52:32 PM »
The Windlehurst humps too... horrendous. Humps do not need to be this high and severe to get drivers to change their behaviour. They're even awful on a bike - if you cycle down the side your right pedal can then catch on the hump if you're not careful.

WOW!, I'm astonished. It's hard to believe a supposedly "designed" speed hump is such that you actually catch your pedal on it. I haven't cycled that route and if in the car, actively avoid the entire road now and take a full detour through Hazel Grove to get back to RoseHill in Marple North. Adding to the Grove's traffic woes no doubt. I guess you could say the mitigation measures worked in my case.

rsh

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #23 on: April 15, 2019, 02:56:15 PM »
I think it was all spent on speed tables on Windlehurst and additionally, and rather counter-intuitively, a CPO on the property at the corner of the A6 and Windlehurst to widen the junction, and make it easier and safer for vehicles (cyclists included) to join Windlehurst before they get faced with the collection of speed measures attempting to dissuade them to use the route.

The redesign of this junction was crazy indeed, and seems to have actually still caused most of the tailbacks through High Lane. Perhaps because of more traffic trying to get to the A555, but once through this junction things always get moving again.

Have to strongly disagree with the suggestion it's better for cyclists though - far from it - as well as demolishing the properties they REMOVED a painted cycle lane there to make a full left-turn lane. Unfortunately the presence of that lane now means anyone trying to cycle straight on up the A6 is sandwiched between the two, unless they're bold enough to cycle in the middle and take the whole straight ahead lane until through the junction, to make sure no-one squeezes past stupidly. I know people now actively avoiding the whole area on bikes and desperately looking for other routes.

The Windlehurst humps too... horrendous. Humps do not need to be this high and severe to get drivers to change their behaviour. They're even awful on a bike - if you cycle down the side your right pedal can then catch on the hump if you're not careful.

jimblob

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #22 on: April 08, 2019, 04:10:35 PM »
Weren’t the speed tables put in to manage vehicle speeds in Windlehurst rather than deter traffic. Clue is in the name.
that was the ruse; but what is the correlation between increased traffic because of SEMMS and people speeding along Windlehurst? In theory the two aren't related. SEMMS's funds for "mitigation" measures (that's mitigation against an inrcrease in traffic... NOT Speeding) were used to install speed measures. That aside, it's impossible to drive at or anywhere near the 30mph limit on Windlehurst because of the measures, unless you can afford a new car every year.

ROTHERS

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2019, 09:01:45 AM »
Weren’t the speed tables put in to manage vehicle speeds in Windlehurst rather than deter traffic. Clue is in the name.

The SEMMS modelling identified the likelihood of significant increases in traffic on Windlehurst (hardly a surprise), hence why the junction was upgraded. As people used to regularly belt along that route at well over 30, yet more traffic whizzing along was hardly going to be desirable.

I’m not a fan of humps, but if people simply refuse to stick to the speed limit in urban areas there aren’t a lot of alternatives.
I recently changed my car and i now have to avoid Windlehurst as it is a horrendous experience. I came home from Chapel-en-le-frith last night and came via the Strines to get to the Ridge its that bad.
Alternative is speed camera's, folks will slow down or expand the pavements to narrow the road.

Belly

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #20 on: April 06, 2019, 08:05:45 AM »
Weren’t the speed tables put in to manage vehicle speeds in Windlehurst rather than deter traffic. Clue is in the name.

The SEMMS modelling identified the likelihood of significant increases in traffic on Windlehurst (hardly a surprise), hence why the junction was upgraded. As people used to regularly belt along that route at well over 30, yet more traffic whizzing along was hardly going to be desirable.

I’m not a fan of humps, but if people simply refuse to stick to the speed limit in urban areas there aren’t a lot of alternatives.
Words are trains for passing through what really has no name...

jimblob

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2019, 01:55:02 PM »
The earlier shared pavement plan was funded as part of the A6MARR mitigation so I’d love to know what happened to that money. Probably not towards other cycle infrastructure, I’d guess.
https://mappinggm.org.uk/bee-network/
I think it was all spent on speed tables on Windlehurst and additionally, and rather counter-intuitively, a CPO on the property at the corner of the A6 and Windlehurst to widen the junction, and make it easier and safer for vehicles (cyclists included) to join Windlehurst before they get faced with the collection of speed measures attempting to dissuade them to use the route.
Kinda like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and leaving them to fight it out for themselves.
Good old Stockport Highways!  ::) ::) ::)

rsh

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2019, 01:24:13 PM »
The earlier shared pavement plan was funded as part of the A6MARR mitigation so I’d love to know what happened to that money. Probably not towards other cycle infrastructure, I’d guess.

Separately the whole of the A6 within Stockport is on the Bee Network walking and cycling map as a “major busy road route”, so should technically be given proper segregated, safe cycle lanes along each side (like those on Oxford Road, Manchester). I’m having trouble imagining how they’ll do it through parts of High Lane, but there we go, the promise is there. It’d be the best way to ultimately make this link between Middlewood and the A555 too. So maybe we should push for this to be sooner rather than later.

https://mappinggm.org.uk/bee-network/

Belly

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #17 on: April 04, 2019, 08:12:19 PM »
Pretty typical I'd say. I hope the Council didn't pocke any money for this from Cent Govt and the re-appropriated it.

Looks like they are going to wait for someone to get squished by a truck before the act. Lets hope its not me...  :(
Words are trains for passing through what really has no name...

rsh

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #16 on: April 04, 2019, 09:35:07 AM »
It looks like if we want an A555 - Middlewood Way link it’s time to get writing to some local councillors.

Stockport Cycling on Twitter: “Tried to raise this topic at the Cycle User Group last night, as it's an obvious extension to their Bramhall Green to A6 Beeline. Reply was 'too expensive, we'd have to buy farmer's field ...  must hurry on -
we have to leave the building by 8pm'”

https://twitter.com/skcycling/status/1111213275767816192?s=21

Their attitude to this is unforgivable, really.

marplerambler

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #15 on: March 29, 2019, 11:32:03 PM »
Has the law changed regarding riding bicycles on the pavement? If the law has been changed why weren't horse riders included! (Yes, this is relevant to this and other similar threads as there is a livery stables immediately off the Marple side of Dan Bank. I kept my horse there when I first got him and had to move him because it was so dangerous to ride off the yard.)
We both know that the law hasn't changed but I know that I act for my own safety, the safety of the endless stream of traffic and that going up the hill I am going so slowly I present no danger to a pedestrian (should I ever see one). I sometimes find it so hard to even cross the A6 I stay on the right hand pavement to ascend and then drop onto the Middlewood Way on the right hand side and use the tunnel beneath the A6. The big difference between a bike and a horse on the pavement of the A6 is that the bike I ride is a pile of old iron with an aging donkey pedaling. A horse constrained by the narrow pavement would be truly terrified by juggernauts thundering past only a few feet away.

nbt

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2019, 10:47:41 AM »
I thought I'd posted a reply but it appears that the post was not successful. I agree with the points made by CTCREP that the provision of cycling facilities between the new road and the middlewood way has been severely compromised due to opposition from the equestrian lobby, which is a real shame. Our nation's attitude towards cycling is very very limited by a decision taken in the 1950s to pretend that bicycles are like mechanical horses and thus the two should be lumped together, and kept out of the way of the important motor car.

Having said that, there's a pegasus crossing over the new A6 at the end of Middlewood road, so horses can get from the stables to the quieter road.
NBT: Notoriously Bad Typist

CTCREP

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2019, 11:25:54 AM »
The Law hasn’t changed Henrietta, you are not allowed to cycle on the pavements - but of course most parents tell their children to do so.  It is logical when riding junior cycles but not when you are able to ride an adult cycle, but nowadays many motorists expect cyclists to ride on the pavement and give those on the road very little space.

The problem we have is with Government.  They don’t Govern. They provide Guidelines for catering for cyclists but then leave it to the discretion of the Councils to abide by them or ignore them.  Stockport’s arrogant Council frequently ignore the Government’s and cyclists’ advice when considering cycling and chooses to follow its own inexperienced opinions.

The opinion of the Head of Highways, Sue Stevenson,  is that  “The prior proposal for a shared foot and cycleway adjacent to the A6 is not being pursued due to concerns over the safety of equestrians who cannot legally use such a facility”. 

She has every right to do this.  She will of course propose some devious route that is safe for horse riders but highly inconvenient for cyclists at a time when we are trying to get more people out of their cars and to cycle to work.

It has been shown time and time again that in an urban environment cycling is the quickest, and certainly least polluting, of any form of transport. I don’t see many people riding to work on their horses nowadays, so why are their needs always given precedence over that of cyclists in this Borough.

Stockport Council should be encouraging all those catering for horses to create new Horse Only tracks within the Borough. If taken up nationwide we could have a whole new Horse Tourist Industry with all those villages, that we are told would lose their livelihood if Fox Hunting were banned, providing refreshment and accommodation for both riders and horses, and horses would rarely be in conflict with the rest of society.

My login is Henrietta

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2019, 04:13:13 PM »
I have cycled to Bramhall along the Middlewood Way/A6/A555 quite a few times since the opening of the A555 usually returning in the daylight just after five. I ascend to the A6 on the far side of the A6 tunnel. No cycle lane is needed for the descent because the gradient means that you are cycling nearly as fast as the traffic anyway so you are only cycling downhill for a very short period of time. Coming back I cycle up the pavement at not much more than 5mph, I don't think that I have seen a pedestrian yet. I am going too slowly to have a collision with a pedestrian and if I did see someone I would stop to let him/her pass or cycle past him on the road. Strictly speaking I shouldn't be on the pavement but I am acting in everyone's best interest staying off the busy road while I ascend slowly. A cycle lane is not necessary if you ascend slowly and cautiously on the pavement.
Has the law changed regarding riding bicycles on the pavement? If the law has been changed why weren't horse riders included! (Yes, this is relevant to this and other similar threads as there is a livery stables immediately off the Marple side of Dan Bank. I kept my horse there when I first got him and had to move him because it was so dangerous to ride off the yard.)

rsh

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2019, 10:24:28 PM »
No cycle lane is needed for the descent because the gradient means that you are cycling nearly as fast as the traffic anyway so you are only cycling downhill for a very short period of time. Coming back I cycle up the pavement at not much more than 5mph, I don't think that I have seen a pedestrian yet. I am going too slowly to have a collision with a pedestrian and if I did see someone I would stop to let him/her pass or cycle past him on the road. Strictly speaking I shouldn't be on the pavement but I am acting in everyone's best interest staying off the busy road while I ascend slowly. A cycle lane is not necessary if you ascend slowly and cautiously on the pavement.
You’re right, you can easily match traffic speed going downhill, but would everyone feel confident doing that? I doubt it. And the very fact you’re having to break the rules and use the still narrow pavement to get back uphill surely shows exactly why a proper safe cycle link is needed. The exact scheme they designed and funded would have catered exactly for this, widening and legalising the pavement for cycling so anyone of any ability or bravery can make the link. Why our councillors aren’t up in arms at this being dumped is beyond me.

Lily

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Re: Middlewood Way
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2019, 11:43:29 AM »
You’ve just beaten me to it NBT. We now use it regularly, but only as far as the junction after the Woodford one. I agree, the signposting is very poor but once you know where you are going you’ll be ok. The Middlewood Way from High Lane to Marple is much better now (even after rain) so, Henry, enjoy your cycling commute.
Lily.