Road Changes Marple Centre.

[marveld]

I had a gander at the service road changes myself today. During the 15 mins I was there, ONE car came in from Stockport Road and TEN continued the wrong way. Being public spirited, I flagged down four cars and advised them of the new traffic control. If you didn't live in Marple, then you'd perhaps notice the no entry signs. For a motorist familiar with the service road, it simply isn't clear enough. In my opinion, there should be a "hump" on the road at the point of 'no entry' and signs that say e.g. "NEW ROAD PRIORITY" close to kerb on both sides. The turn into the one-way system from Stockport Road is an accident waiting to happen.

[Jay]

Basically you can't go down the service road any more all the way to the bottom to pull out on to Stockport Road, you can only go down as far as the carpark entrance which is directly behind Iceland. However you can now pull on to the service road from Stockport Road (opposite Greggs) to get in to the carpark or continue right though to Church Lane. (but go slow if you do cause there's a lot of cars that still are coming the original way!)

[marveld]

For the benefit of those who don't know the new system (incl. me), can you please explain the new road priorities clearly? Many thanks.

[Dave]

It was certainly fairly chaotic this morning, with several cars going the wrong way and exiting from Trinity Street into Stockport Road, while others were turning in from Stockport Road!    I suppose it's understandable - when you've used a road in one direction for years, you just carry on out of sheer habit, and as we all know, locals never look at road signs anyway!    But once there have been a few accidents we'll no doubt get used to it.   

But hopefully it will make the Chadwick St/Trinity St car park more accessible - and the new car park layout looks to be an improvement anyway.   

[Jay]

Anyone remember this topic? The one way system behind Iceland has come in to effect. The highways agency have just put the signs up and are wiring them in now. It's total chaos there at the moment as cars are coming from both directions! To me it's crazy as any traffic coming up that way has to pull out on to Church Lane which at the best of times is impossible due to vans parking outside Harrods.

Got to hand it to SMBC for a well thought through plan! 

[twinkletoes]

Its going to take the fire fighters of marple alot longer to get to the fire station! and when we informed of stockport council of this do you know what they said........NOT MY PROBLEM!

[Dave]

Thanks for the links, Mark - they are a useful and (in my view) encouraging update.  The Chadwick Street Car Park has been a mess for as long as I can remember.  If the result of these changes is that it will now be easier to access and have a sensible traffic flow with clear entrances and exits, then that has to be an improvement.

Like others, I was concerned about some of the changes proposed for the Stockport Road/Hollins Lane junction, and it's good that these seem to have been dropped.   

[admin]

There is a fairly detailed statement on the Marple Civic Society web site News page explaining what work is being done now and what is to be reconsidered by Marple Area Committee. The current work seems to include the car park refurbishment and reversal of the direction of traffic into Trinity Street, but this is being done without structural change to the road, just the road markings.

The work being reconsidered (following the MCS objections) includes the creation of extra traffic lanes on Stockport Road and Hollins Lane, the removal of part of the Hollins forecourt and Hollins Lane pavement, the removal of the existing pedestrian crossings and the creation of a pedestrian refuge in the centre of the Stockport Road/ Hollins Lane junction.


Follow this link to the Society's news page: http://www.marplecivicsociety.org.uk/marple%20news.html


and this one to their report: http://www.marplecivicsociety.org.uk/Chadwick%20St%20Statement%20%2028th%20November%202008.pdf

Some of the links to the Civic Society site in earlier messages no longer work, so I've removed them.

[wolfman]

Does the fact that work has started on the car park mean that all the other proposals will be put into effect?

[Barbara]

If the changes are the same as previously proposed (about 2 years ago) the aspect which concerns me is the reversal of flow into the service road between Church Lane and the Hollins.  The large lorries which deliver to Boots and Iceland would surely have difficulty negotiation the turn into this road, and would certainly cause congestion on Stockport Road.  Is this the proposal?

[admin]

I've merged this new topic with a couple of older ones about the same subject. I don't know if the proposals are going ahead or not but I suspect they will be.

I di know that Marple Civic Society are objecting to the proposals and you can read more details here:

Link removed - no longer working. Admin.

[CTCREP]

I am getting confusing information concerning changes to the road layout in Marple Centre. One source says the proposals have been dropped, others say they are as follows.

"The proposals as they stand are for a modification to the Hollins Lane/Stockport Road junction that will improve pedestrian safety and reduce peak time congestion and to reverse the one way operation on Trinity Street to allow traffic to access the car park directly off Stockport Road rather than having to go ‘round the houses’ to get to Church Lane and Chadwick Street. The proposals also allow for refurbishing the car park and providing additional CCTV"

I have not seen a diagram, but if these proposals are as Marple Resident unfriendly, as one source has suggested - reducing pavement area, then it is essential we find out more before they are introduced. Town Centers should be for the benefit of those shopping on foot. It is well known that Pedestrianised Town Centers provide a better shopping environment which raises income for shop owners. If this proposal is primarily to prevent traffic congestion, and to save some motorists from "going round the houses", I am doubtful if the proposal will benefit Marple as a whole.

[nbt]

How else can we justify the proposed congestion charge if the road planners don't create more congestion?

(note there may be some irony in that comment, but not much)

[wolfman]

reducing the width of the road seems a favourite of Stockports traffic planners. The new road layout at George Lane and Hyde road on the George Lane side has seen the two lanes at the junction reduced to one. Now all the traffic has to queue up.

[Dave]

The Marple Civic Society had a stand in the Co-op the other day, giving information about the Council's proposals for reorganising traffic flow and car parking in the centre of Marple.

The propsals are interesting and potentially controversial.  It's worth having a look at this link to find out more: 

Link removed - no longer working. Admin.

Whatver the rights and wrongs of the proposals, one thing stands out: it would surely be sheer madness to reduce the width of the road outside McKays so that any vehicle waiting to turn right into Hollins Lane obstructs all the traffic behind it.