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Archive => Archived Boards => Local Issues => Topic started by: Marple Business Forum on October 23, 2012, 09:20:34 AM

Title: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Marple Business Forum on October 23, 2012, 09:20:34 AM
The first phase of consultation on the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road is open between 22nd October 2012 and 25th January 2013.

The proposed A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road will provide approximately 10 kilometres of new dual carriageway from the A6 near Hazel Grove (south east Stockport) to Manchester Airport via the existing A555.

A new pedestrian and cycle route is proposed for the whole length of the scheme including the existing A555.

More information can be found here: http://www.semmms.info.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on October 23, 2012, 10:23:35 AM
Great news - bring it on!  Though the five-year time scale looks a tad optimistic to me - just wait for someone to find a rare species of natterjack toad living somewhere between Poynton and Bramhall ......    ;D
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on October 23, 2012, 02:49:26 PM
Great news - bring it on!  Though the five-year time scale looks a tad optimistic to me - just wait for someone to find a rare species of natterjack toad living somewhere between Poynton and Bramhall ......    ;D

A rally bad idea more road space to be filled up within a very short time.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: amazon on October 23, 2012, 07:34:54 PM
Great news - bring it on!  Though the five-year time scale looks a tad optimistic to me - just wait for someone to find a rare species of natterjack toad living somewhere between Poynton and Bramhall ......    ;D

A rally bad idea more road space to be filled up within a very short time.
Bredbury bypass the one that should happen .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: the rover on October 23, 2012, 07:44:36 PM
Bredbury bypass the one that should happen .

Agreed!
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: tonyjones on October 23, 2012, 08:21:09 PM
According to the Messenger newspaper dated February 21st 1992, Stockport Council issued a compulsory purchase order to buy the land for the link from Bredbury to Hazel Grove, having printed 'A first view of the revised route for the A6M' in October 1989.
Perhaps the five year plan is a bit more than 'a tad' optimistic !
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: amazon on October 23, 2012, 08:57:57 PM
According to the Messenger newspaper dated February 21st 1992, Stockport Council issued a compulsory purchase order to buy the land for the link from Bredbury to Hazel Grove, having printed 'A first view of the revised route for the A6M' in October 1989.
Perhaps the five year plan is a bit more than 'a tad' optimistic !

The money that was spent on this at the beginning services moved pylons water mains. .not far of. Twenty million . And that's years ago . The link is already in coperated in the motorway at Bredbury .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Duke Fame on October 23, 2012, 10:10:20 PM
According to the Messenger newspaper dated February 21st 1992, Stockport Council issued a compulsory purchase order to buy the land for the link from Bredbury to Hazel Grove, having printed 'A first view of the revised route for the A6M' in October 1989.
Perhaps the five year plan is a bit more than 'a tad' optimistic !

The money that was spent on this at the beginning services moved pylons water mains. .not far of. Twenty million . And that's years ago . The link is already in coperated in the motorway at Bredbury .

In the time the council diddled. Tesco built their bit in no time at all. Perhaps we need a private road network.

Good news though, we need people to be less precious about rare breeds of worm and get on with making it easier to get about and do business
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Neil Smith on October 23, 2012, 11:19:53 PM
This has been going on for as long as I can remember (I would say 30+ years) so 5 more will not do any harm :o ??? :-\ :'(
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: the rover on October 24, 2012, 09:29:51 AM
I used to work for the company that did the original Enviromental Survey (rare animals, newts etc) in the late 1990's so the idea for these two roads (Airport & Bredbury) must have been planned in the early 1990's as the ES is not done until after the roads, junctions etc have been designed and approved by the Highways Agency and local councils etc which will take a few years for projects of this size. The projects were shelved due to funding.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: rsh on October 25, 2012, 04:54:20 PM
As useful as the final piece to Bredbury would be, I'm not sure I could sit with the lower Goyt Valley being ruined for that cause. The extra bit of road which surely needs to happen along with this proposal though is the loop around from the A6 at Simpsons Corner to the stub of road built at Sainsbury's; effectively a Hazel Grove/A6 bypass. This would also open up a junction for the new road on the A626 Offerton Rd. As it stands this new road will only make traffic worse through Hazel Grove, and via Torkington Rd and Windlehurst to Marple and east.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on October 25, 2012, 07:37:56 PM
I used to work for the company that did the original Enviromental Survey (rare animals, newts etc) in the late 1990's so the idea for these two roads (Airport & Bredbury) must have been planned in the early 1990's as the ES is not done until after the roads, junctions etc have been designed and approved by the Highways Agency and local councils etc which will take a few years for projects of this size. The projects were shelved due to funding.

Wll lets hope its shelved again
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: amazon on October 25, 2012, 08:57:10 PM
I used to work for the company that did the original Enviromental Survey (rare animals, newts etc) in the late 1990's so the idea for these two roads (Airport & Bredbury) must have been planned in the early 1990's as the ES is not done until after the roads, junctions etc have been designed and approved by the Highways Agency and local councils etc which will take a few years for projects of this size. The projects were shelved due to funding.

Wll lets hope its shelved again
Let's go back to the dark ages .of coal fires and smog . And tripe and onions and dripping on toast .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Neil Smith on October 25, 2012, 11:43:39 PM
I used to work for the company that did the original Enviromental Survey (rare animals, newts etc) in the late 1990's so the idea for these two roads (Airport & Bredbury) must have been planned in the early 1990's as the ES is not done until after the roads, junctions etc have been designed and approved by the Highways Agency and local councils etc which will take a few years for projects of this size. The projects were shelved due to funding.

Wll lets hope its shelved again
Let's go back to the dark ages .of coal fires and smog . And tripe and onions and dripping on toast .

Agree with you Amazon, something needs to be done the traffic from Marple, Romiley, Bredbury etc is just hideous in the rush 2-3 hours morning and evening.

Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: CTCREP on November 01, 2012, 12:53:51 PM
From the previous reply:-"Agree with you Amazon, something needs to be done the traffic from Marple, Romiley, Bredbury etc is just hideous in the rush 2-3 hours morning and evening."

Trouble is, I don't see how this link is going to benefit Marple etc. As a cyclist I am pleased to see it includes a cycle-path, but yet again, how do we get to the cycle-path from Marple? Although you could use the Middlewood Way for part of the journey, it still means you have to clean your bike after every journey and coping with rush hour traffic elsewhere.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Duke Fame on November 01, 2012, 01:51:01 PM
From the previous reply:-"Agree with you Amazon, something needs to be done the traffic from Marple, Romiley, Bredbury etc is just hideous in the rush 2-3 hours morning and evening."

I agree, the cheapest option would be to build a cable car from Marple station > rose Hill > to Stockport rail station wich will take a lot of traffic. Close Rose Hill station and sell the land to pay for it.

If I had the cash, I'd do it but I'm a bit short .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Barbara on November 10, 2012, 02:55:20 PM
Does anybody else take exception to the intrusive personal questions included on questionnaire recently received?  What on earth relevance is my sexual orientation to do with my opinions on the route of the road?  >:(
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 10, 2012, 03:35:46 PM
Does anybody else take exception to the intrusive personal questions included on questionnaire recently received?  What on earth relevance is my sexual orientation to do with my opinions on the route of the road?  >:(

Totally agree and I have made the same point as well elsewhere
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: My login is Henrietta on November 16, 2012, 05:21:26 AM
From the previous reply:-"Agree with you Amazon, something needs to be done the traffic from Marple, Romiley, Bredbury etc is just hideous in the rush 2-3 hours morning and evening."

I agree, the cheapest option would be to build a cable car from Marple station > rose Hill > to Stockport rail station wich will take a lot of traffic. Close Rose Hill station and sell the land to pay for it.

If I had the cash, I'd do it but I'm a bit short .
I seem to remember that way back in the dim and distant past there was a move afoot to reopen a rail link between Marple or Rosehill (can't remember which) to Stockport. It died the death sadly but it would have solved a lot of the early morning chaos on Stockport Road.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 16, 2012, 09:31:34 AM
To put in the Reddish loop would certainly be the cheapest and most effective way of creating a rail service to Stockport.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on November 16, 2012, 10:08:32 AM
Agreed, wheels.  It's a no-brainer, and I don't know why it isn't being seriously considered.  It would provide a direct rail service to Stockport from Marple/Rose Hill, Romiley, Bredbury and Brinnington, and these trains would also call at a re-opened Reddish South.  There's a local campaign to re-open Reddish South, and there's even a 'Friends of Reddish South' organisation!  http://reddish.dsracing.me.uk/

It looks a roundabout route on the map, but the journey times would be perfectly acceptable:  about 15 minutes from Marple or Rose Hill to Stockport station. 

A few years ago I attempted to persuade our MP Andrew Stunnell that it would be a good idea to back this plan, but he wasn't interested, sadly (but predictably).  (When can we have an MP with a bit of vision   ???) 
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: ringi on November 16, 2012, 10:49:49 AM
I fail to understand way anyone wishes to get the train from Marple to Stockport.  Someone that works in the centre of Stockport would not have chosen to live in Marple in the first place and there is very little in the centre of Stockport that is not in Manchester.

I see the public transport issues as being more the poor links from Marple to location like Stepping Hill Hospital along with local offices and other places of work.   Getting a train to Stockport station then having to change to other transport does not seem like a good solution to me.

I think a dedicated 24h bus line on the A6 with a dedicated bus link to Marple, so the buses are quick and dependable would be a more useful option.    Having a cycle way of the quality they build in the Netherlands joining Marple with the A6 would also be great, see http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/ to lean how cycle ways should be built.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 16, 2012, 11:32:14 AM
I fail to understand way anyone wishes to get the train from Marple to Stockport.  Someone that works in the centre of Stockport would not have chosen to live in Marple in the first place and there is very little in the centre of Stockport that is not in Manchester.

I see the public transport issues as being more the poor links from Marple to location like Stepping Hill Hospital along with local offices and other places of work.   Getting a train to Stockport station then having to change to other transport does not seem like a good solution to me.

I think a dedicated 24h bus line on the A6 with a dedicated bus link to Marple, so the buses are quick and dependable would be a more useful option.    Having a cycle way of the quality they build in the Netherlands joining Marple with the A6 would also be great, see http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/ to lean how cycle ways should be built.


A vast number of people travel to Stockport each day for work day for work or for shopping and a rail link would be invaluable to Marple. I do agree about a dedicated bus/cycle lane on the A6 but that battle was fought and last a number of years ago sadly
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: bluebelly on November 16, 2012, 11:38:57 AM
More cycle lanes noooooo
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on November 16, 2012, 12:31:26 PM
Someone that works in the centre of Stockport would not have chosen to live in Marple in the first place

Tell that to the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people who live in Marple and work in Stockport.  ::)
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 16, 2012, 12:39:17 PM
And all the people who live n Stockport and come to work in Marple each day
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: ringi on November 16, 2012, 02:27:04 PM
To cover the running costs of a rail line you need many hundreds of people using it each day.   I don’t believe that many people live in Marple and work close enough to Stockport station for a train link to be a good solution.

Someone that works in the centre of Stockport would not have chosen to live in Marple in the first place

Tell that to the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people who live in Marple and work in Stockport.  ::)
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on November 16, 2012, 03:08:34 PM
Travelling to work is only one of the many reasons why people use trains. They go shopping, they visit friends and family, they go out for a meal or a drink, they go clubbing, they connect with other trains etc etc.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 16, 2012, 03:14:33 PM
Travelling to work is only one of the many reasons why people use trains. They go shopping, they visit friends and family, they go out for a meal or a drink, they go clubbing, they connect with other trains etc etc.

Were in agreement again - so worrying
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: ringi on November 16, 2012, 08:46:52 PM
Out of your list, shopping, meal, clubbing, connect with other trains, can all be done at last as well in Manchester then Stockport and we already have a good trains service to Manchester.    Visit to friends and family would only be helped by a service to Stockport if the friends or family lived closed to Stockport station.

Travelling to work is only one of the many reasons why people use trains. They go shopping, they visit friends and family, they go out for a meal or a drink, they go clubbing, they connect with other trains etc etc.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on November 17, 2012, 12:16:21 AM
Even if you might not use it yourself I can't understand why someone would actually be opposed to what is a good and cheap alternative to getting traffic off the roads and and which all evaluation done thus far indicate would be a major boost to the towns economy. Local Government has called for a rail link, the business community has supported them the environmental movement isin faviour. What do you know the restof us don't
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on November 17, 2012, 09:42:45 AM
Visit to friends and family would only be helped by a service to Stockport if the friends or family lived closed to Stockport station.
People's friends and family are more likely to live in Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Wilmslow, Macclesfield, Altrincham, Hale etc etc, all of which are served by direct train services from Stockport.  So you hop on a train at Marple or Rose Hill, and then just cross the platform at Stockport to get another local train to visit Auntie Sue in Handforth.

Out of your list, shopping, meal, clubbing, connect with other trains, can all be done at last as well in Manchester then Stockport and we already have a good trains service to Manchester.   
Indeed.  Which perfectly illustrates why a direct rail link from Marple, Romiley, Bredbury and Brinnington to Stockport would be a boost for the local economy.  We need to keep people spending (and thereby creating jobs) round here, not in the centre of Manchester.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: rsh on November 27, 2012, 12:01:08 PM
Agreed, wheels.  It's a no-brainer, and I don't know why it isn't being seriously considered.  It would provide a direct rail service to Stockport from Marple/Rose Hill, Romiley, Bredbury and Brinnington, and these trains would also call at a re-opened Reddish South.  There's a local campaign to re-open Reddish South, and there's even a 'Friends of Reddish South' organisation!  http://reddish.dsracing.me.uk/
It seems like a good idea, but Friends of Reddish South seem to be getting nowhere because they're told Heaton Norris junction (and possibly the viaduct and station) don't have enough spare capacity to allow for more trains.

For a rail service like this to Stockport to be viable it really needs to be on something like a 15 minute frequency (or say every 30 minutes each from both Marple and Rose Hill), to match the buses. For that the idea of a new tram line branching off at Bredbury or Brinnington and roughly following the M60 would be a far better solution and worth the extra cost. As well as the existing railway stations you'd have stops at Portwood/Peel Centre, Bridgefield/Merseyway and terminating at the bus station, with some kind of new travelator up to the station for anyone who wants to continue onwards (probably far fewer than actually want to stay in Stockport). It'd be a much quicker service from Marple (quicker than buses at rush hour I'd imagine) and serve more of the places people want to actually go in Stockport.

I agree about the slight lack of vision in this borough though...
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: amazon on November 27, 2012, 01:14:22 PM
Agreed, wheels.  It's a no-brainer, and I don't know why it isn't being seriously considered.  It would provide a direct rail service to Stockport from Marple/Rose Hill, Romiley, Bredbury and Brinnington, and these trains would also call at a re-opened Reddish South.  There's a local campaign to re-open Reddish South, and there's even a 'Friends of Reddish South' organisation!  http://reddish.dsracing.me.uk/
It seems like a good idea, but Friends of Reddish South seem to be getting nowhere because they're told Heaton Norris junction (and possibly the viaduct and station) don't have enough spare capacity to allow for more trains.

For a rail service like this to Stockport to be viable it really needs to be on something like a 15 minute frequency (or say every 30 minutes each from both Marple and Rose Hill), to match the buses. For that the idea of a new tram line branching off at Bredbury or Brinnington and roughly following the M60 would be a far better solution and worth the extra cost. As well as the existing railway stations you'd have stops at Portwood/Peel Centre, Bridgefield/Merseyway and terminating at the bus station, with some kind of new travelator up to the station for anyone who wants to continue onwards (probably far fewer than actually want to stay in Stockport). It'd be a much quicker service from Marple (quicker than buses at rush hour I'd imagine) and serve more of the places people want to actually go in Stockport.

I agree about the slight lack of vision in this borough though...

Great so were does it branch off .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on November 27, 2012, 06:07:13 PM
I agree that the route described by rsh is preferable to the 'Reddish Vale chord', but I just fear that the much greater cost and the possible planning and/or engineering obstacles could be prohibitive.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: thebigshed on November 27, 2012, 08:04:39 PM
I remember getting on a steam train in Romiley as a kid in the Sixties and going to Tiviot Dale station in Stockport. The railway followed the route of the motorway after branching off behind Bredbury station but of course it is mostly built over now. Dr Beeching has a lot to answer for.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: amazon on November 27, 2012, 08:49:47 PM
I remember getting on a steam train in Romiley as a kid in the Sixties and going to Tiviot Dale station in Stockport. The railway followed the route of the motorway after branching off behind Bredbury station but of course it is mostly built over now. Dr Beeching has a lot to answer for.

I remember the steam trains coming up to Woodley junction I used to live on Hyde road they had double
   Headers because of the gradient ,they used o be a small shunting yard at Woodley ,with. A pretty large coal yard .i think it belonged to the coop .great days for spoting .
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dolores on December 06, 2012, 11:57:27 AM
Hello, I'm not a Marple resident but I live in Poynton and am part of a group challenging the road in its present form as we cannot see it being of any benefit to the area.  Apologies for barging onto your forum but I wondered whether you'd had a chance to look at the traffic modelling for the road.  As far as Marple is concerned, there will be quite an increase in traffic on the surrounding roads.  Those with figures included on the SEMMMS map show the following increases in daily vehicle movements:

A626 Stockport Road   24500 - 27900    +13%
A627 Dooley Lane        20700 - 22500    + 8%
A626 Marple Road        11100 - 13700    + 23%
A627 Offerton Road      13300 - 18500    + 39%
Torkington Lane/Road   1500 - 3900       + 160%
Threaphurst Lane         500 - 1000        + 100%
Windlehurst Road         7300 - 8900       + 22%
A6 (at High Lane)        24500 - 30500    + 24%

If you weren't already aware, there is a public exhibition scheduled for 12th December in Disley. 
Best regards.

Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Cyberman on December 06, 2012, 01:38:39 PM
Thanks Dolores for an interesting and relevant contribution. The figures for traffic increase have put me in the "we don't need it" category. I'd recently seen a BBC article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20526328 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20526328) suggesting that car use has peaked - and certainly petrol / diesel won't get any cheaper as the stuff runs out and our friends in China and India want more of it. So do we need to cover more of the countryside in concrete and tarmac? I'd go with RSH's tram option - lower environmental impact on construction, and better able to use non-fossil energy. We could even build a nuclear power station on the Hibbert Lane CAMSFC site to power it - that would get them their £12m!  ;D
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 06, 2012, 01:48:24 PM
Agree thats why its such a shame that the 3p petrol increase was cancelled yesterday
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dolores on December 06, 2012, 02:06:06 PM
If you didn't see Monday's Inside Out programme I'd really recommend a viewing on the BBC iplayer.  Not only evidence to back up the 'peak car' theory but also reports of a 40% increase in journeys by rail. 
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Bluezorro on December 06, 2012, 08:49:23 PM
I think they should pay people to cycle to work
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Harry on December 06, 2012, 09:28:20 PM
I think they should pay people to cycle to work


They'd have to pay me a lot of money when my commute can be up to 210 miles each way, sometimes more.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: bluebelly on December 07, 2012, 10:01:16 AM
its about time cyclists were taxed for road use and also have some sort of test/licence
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 07, 2012, 12:11:34 PM
why nobody else is taxed for road use?????
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: bluebelly on December 07, 2012, 12:20:42 PM
yes they are
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: simonesaffron on December 07, 2012, 12:26:25 PM
I think they should pay people to cycle to work


They'd have to pay me a lot of money when my commute can be up to 210 miles each way, sometimes more.

I think that they should offer cyclists free bus fares at peak - times when everybody is travelling to/from work. This would incentivise cyclists to leave their cycles at home and take the bus. This would make the roads a lot safer for motorists, the pavements a lot safer for pedestrians, not to mention the roads a lot safer for cyclists as they would all be on the bus.

I also think that all cyclists as part of their cycing proficiency (if such a thing still exists) should visit a town in Holland of comparable size to Stockport and observe and compare. 
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: rsh on December 07, 2012, 12:32:26 PM
its about time cyclists were taxed for road use and also have some sort of test/licence

I wholeheartedly agree; Taxing each bicycle would after all raise the grand sum of £0 based on their emissions. http://ipayroadtax.com http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-buyers-guide/cbg_roadtax.html

As for the road, I think it may actually serve some purpose further along. The bad news is that as usual it's a half-job that will mean precisely south and east Stockport clogged with even more traffic being suddenly dumped off a dual carriageway onto what is practically a rural road system. It desperately needs the extra bypass link around to the Stepping Hill/Sainsbury's stub to stop it from killing Hazel Grove once and for all and provide a junction on Offerton Road to relieve Torkington.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: rsh on December 07, 2012, 12:42:16 PM
I think that they should offer cyclists free bus fares at peak - times when everybody is travelling to/from work. This would incentivise cyclists to leave their cycles at home and take the bus. This would make the roads a lot safer for motorists, the pavements a lot safer for pedestrians, not to mention the roads a lot safer for cyclists as they would all be on the bus.

Wonderful ;D I mean, why authorities have spent about the past 30 years encouraging motorists out of their cars and onto public transport I don't know!
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 07, 2012, 12:48:21 PM
Much better to restrict car useage on certain days as tried else where. SoSilver cars cannot travel on a Tuesday, Blue on a Wednesday etc
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: bluebelly on December 07, 2012, 01:03:25 PM
we have listened to authoraties for 30 years,thats why this country is in such a mess ! as for silver cars , blue cars id go for that if cyclist wete forbiden to cycle anywhere near roads.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on December 08, 2012, 10:14:41 AM
I think that they should offer cyclists free bus fares at peak - times when everybody is travelling to/from work. This would incentivise cyclists to leave their cycles at home and take the bus. This would make the roads a lot safer for motorists, the pavements a lot safer for pedestrians, not to mention the roads a lot safer for cyclists as they would all be on the bus.

Simone's suggestion may have been tongue-in-cheek, but I think it has serious merits.  In my 40-odd years of driving, one of the biggest changes I've seen has been the advent of the kamikaze cyclist.  As anyone who ever drives in London knows, this is mainly a London thing - you don't get them much round here, apart from a few in the centre of Manchester.  They are youngish, almost entirely male, and they ride at a terrifying speed, weaving in and out of traffic, overtaking, undertaking, in the road, on the pavement, and shouting at any pedestrian who has the impertinence to get in the way.  And the problem is, they are not just endangering their own lives (witness the increase to about 3,000 last year in cyclist deaths and serious injuries), but they are also endangering the lives of the rest of us.  These guys are seriously scary......  ::)
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: thebigshed on December 08, 2012, 10:38:15 AM
I was very lucky not to be knocked over by a very large cyclist in Manchester last night.  It was dark and he had no lights.  I didn't see him and stepped out right in front of him.
 
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 10, 2012, 05:17:32 PM
What make you drivers think you have more rights to the road than cyclists.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on December 11, 2012, 11:54:28 PM
What a strange question! It's nothing to do with 'rights' (whatever that means), it's simply about safety. Some cyclists, in London and in other major cities, ride seemingly without regard for the safety of themselves and other road users, and this can be a major problem.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 12, 2012, 12:29:38 AM
Dave you know better than that. Are you suggesting that there no motorists who driver in a reckless and selfish manner, that there are no car drivers who go through red lights or pull up at lights stopping in the cyclists advanced box which has been put there for clear safety reason. Of course there are reckless and selfish cyclists just as there are such motorist but you tackle such selfish individual but attacking all cyclists or motorists.You deal with the offenders.

The key for safe cycling is to be assertive and to lay equal claim to the road space as cars. I cyle into Stockport everyday leaving my car on the drive, that seems to me to be a great contribution to road safety that jumping into a killing machine. WHy don't you join me one day.

As for the nonesense idea that come up now and then of charging cyclists I leave you to monitor and implement that. Just lets be clear that we start charging the car driver for road use as well forget not tha tthe road fund tax was abolished as unwaorkable in 1937.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: simonesaffron on December 12, 2012, 10:24:36 AM
There are of course reckless/inconsiderate people across all walking/cycling/motoring. I am a motorist I try to be safe but sometimes I do silly things, I am not perfect. Some years ago I clipped a cyclist off her bike, I just didn't see her. Fortunately nobody was really hurt. In fact she got back on her bike and rode off but it left me shaken. I remember I didn't drive for a while after.    

The issue for me is about safety not rights, cyclists have as much theoretical rights as anybody else to be on the roads, but we are talking people's lives here. The arterial roads of Stockport are really not a safe place to be for cyclists. This in part is due to inconsiderate/careless motorists and little to do with the cyclists although some of them seem unaware of the dangers, but whosoever it is to do with it still doesn't stop it being there.

I've got 3 friends who have been regular cyclists all their lives. They've all had accidents involving cars.  On of them in his younger days was a competitive, racing cyclist and he reckons he's as good as you can be. He says this stuff that wheels says about being assertive and commanding the roadspace but it didn't stop him having a serious accident where he was hospitalized for a month and told by doctors that he was "fortunate he wasn't permanently disabled. He cycles from Didsbury to Manchester Town Hall every day. He's had several "come offs" he's not a young man but he won't give up his bike. I applaud that in a way but I also realise that he's compromising his own safety. His wife has begged him to stop cycling to/from work but he won't do it.

Surely, anybody can see that the roads of Manchester are not a safe place to cycle at 8am in the morning. There is no safe provision for cyclists and motorists together on most city/town roads. The act of getting on you bike and cycling on them is in itself reckless. You wouldn't roller skate on them so why cycle on them?
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 12, 2012, 01:45:18 PM
Simone, A good well balanced post I think, I like your friend have had my best years of cycling, I am 62. But I really don't see why I should change my morning commute because people in cars think I ought to.

The key to making the roads safer is to get more cyclists on them, lets stop pretending it's a dangerous activity and requires special equipment. Just jump on your bike and peddle. If we can increase cycling my 10% that would have a massive impact on road safety

There are in fact more pedestrians killed on the roads, not the pavements, each year than cyclists but I don't hear any calls for pedestrians to be banned from crossing the road or walking along them say on country lanes.
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: Dave on December 12, 2012, 02:23:27 PM
Dave you know better than that. Are you suggesting that there no motorists who driver in a reckless and selfish manner, that there are no car drivers who go through red lights or pull up at lights stopping in the cyclists advanced box which has been put there for clear safety reason.

No. I am only saying what I wrote, no more than that, and I agree with everything Simone writes on this subject.  There is currently a particular type of 'death-wish' cyclist, only seen in urban areas (mainly London) who rides in an astonishingly reckless way.  That's all.  And there are also, of course, 'car drivers who go through red lights or pull up at lights stopping in the cyclists advanced box', and I don't condone any of that. 

As for this: 
There are in fact more pedestrians killed on the roads, not the pavements, each year than cyclists but I don't hear any calls for pedestrians to be banned from crossing the road or walking along them say on country lanes.

First, there are far, far more pedestrians on our roads and pavements than there are cyclists, so of course there are more accidents involving pedestrians.  And no-one has seriously suggested banning cyclists from the roads.  But there is a small minority of cyclists who ride in a reckless way which, if they were car drivers, would attract a charge of dangerous driving - for example weaving in and out of traffic, jumping red traffic lights, and threatening to mow down pedestrians who are crossing the road.  I think there is a case for tightening the law so that cyclists are subject to the same expectations of road behaviour as motorists are. 
Title: Re: A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road
Post by: wheels on December 14, 2012, 09:59:15 AM
I might agree with a lot of that Dave but I think bad driving is more of a problem than bad cycling. There are as you yourself suggest only a small number of bad bike users, I won't describe them as cyclists, a much greater problem is poor drivers lets deal with that first.

Very often the bad drivers are not even aware they are behaving irresponsibly, I pick for example my own age group the 60+s there can be no doubt that reactions slow down as you pass 60 and I am amazed that we don't retest the 60+s.

Whilst you might accept that cyclists have an equal right to occupy road space as do drivers many don't and are forever suggest that cyclist should not be on the roads. Cycling is not just a leisure activity it's an perfectly reasonable means of everyday transport and generally for any journey under 4 miles is quicker than the car.