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Author Topic: Traffic Issues in Marple - what can be done about them?  (Read 22041 times)

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andrewbowden

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Re: Traffic Issues in Marple - what can be done about them?
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2019, 01:24:49 PM »
Okay.  I'll state the obvious first.  The way to reduce traffic is to get people out of their cars and walking/cycling/car sharing/using public transport instead.

That's the obvious fact.

How you do that is another matter.  But first you need to understand why people are using their cars.  Where are they going?  Are there alternatives?  If there are, why are they not using the alternatives?

This in itself is not straightforward, but let's take an example that is easier than most.  Weekdays the car parks at or near Marple station are usually full.  Where have those cars come from?   

I can see some possibles.  They could have come from Mellor.  Or Compstall.  Or Chisworth/Charleworth.  Or from New Mills.

New Mills has two railway stations.  But I've heard it said that people drive to New Mills to get the train from Marple.  Why would they do this?  Well a peak time return to Manchester is £10.70, compared to £6.80 from Marple.  That's a HUGE difference to go one stop on a five minute journey.  With free parking, it's a no-brainer to drive to Marple or Rose Hill from the New Mills area.  Hey, it's £8.20 from Strines to Manchester.  The train fares are offering a massive encouragement for people to drive to the station in Marple, rather than potentially drive/walk/cycle to a closer one.  How many people are actually doing this, I don't know.  But if you could quantify it, you could see the impact on traffic.  And even a few people doing it will add to the traffic problems. 

If you lived in Mellor and wanted to get to the train you could get the hourly 375 bus to the station.  But the bus doesn't connect well with the trains.  If you wanted to get to Manchester, you could end up with a 15-20 minute wait at the station to change.  Or longer.  So what are you going to do?  Drive probably. 

Just trying to tackle the problems at the stations open up whole cans of worms that are difficult to solve. To get people from Mellor to the station you need more buses.  To get people to use New Mills instead of Marple, you need to reduce the financial incentives to use Marple.  That's either change the fares, or charge for parking.  And if you charge for parking, you then need to make most of the streets near the stations permit parking only else people will just park on the road.

I genuinely don't think there's any quick fixes on this.  Everything simple that can be done is basically a sticking plaster.  You need to get people out of their cars, and to do that you need a lot of changes to be made.

(For the record, I mostly work from home so have no commute.  When I do go to one of my employer's offices, I travel by train or bus.  I have a car.  It sits on the drive most of the time.  During the week I usually only drive to swimming pools in the evening - Avondale or Hazel Grove usually.  Neither can be easily reached by bus.  At weekend the car gets more use.  It might go to visit parents in Tameside.  Or to go shopping.  Or further afield.  At weekend I tend to go swimming in Romiley.  If the weather is good, I cycle.  I used to live in London and did not own a car.  I would be really happy if I didn't own one now..)

corium

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Re: Traffic Issues in Marple - what can be done about them?
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2019, 11:20:06 AM »
Sorry if a similar post elsewhere - Jimbob & I tried to post at the same time & mine vanished somewhere!

Town Street & the bottom part of Longhurst lane are critical for buses & the emergency services to access Mellor yet regularly grind to a halt because of parked traffic.

Low cost solutions based around a pot of paint - though I realise it's not quite that simple:

1 - Remove the onstreet parking outside the Royal Scot - i.e. extend the double yellows

2- Convert at least the equivalent number of long stay spaces in Brabyns Brow car park to short stay - I view the primary purpose of Brabyns brow to support the Marple Bridge shops & services & leisure walkers, not the station users

3- Extend the double white lines at the bottom of Longhurst lane up to just before the old police houses - there is a creeping amount of parking on both sides of the road, one side was bad enough. This will affect 3 properties one of which had a parking space but chose to not use it , 2 I accept don't have any hope of provision.  This could be overcome by the use of residents permits during the day but I suspect this would be a lot more expensive.  Part of the problem is that residents park on the road because of experiences of getting blocked in, difficulties getting out etc. - if no one can park the access problem to their current provision at least partially dissolves itself.

4 - If it's permissible get the traffic wardens to book all oversized cars spillling out of the parking bays on Town street

jimblob

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Re: Traffic Issues in Marple - what can be done about them?
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2019, 09:22:46 AM »
A great thread to open on and well introduced, thank you.
For the record, given my clear reputation for complaining about things 90% of the time, I now don't even own a car, (it was kindly written off whilst parked by a speeding insurance recovery lorry coming over the brow of the hill at RoseHill Station and I chose not to replace it because it's less than useless around Marple).
I DO use public transport most weeks, even when I did own a car, getting TWO trains to the airport for my weekly commute to Aberdeen. When I get to Aberdeen I take the bus there from the airport to my place of work. During the week I walk each day to my office in Aberdeen and use the bus there again on a Friday to get back to the airport to fly home when my wife will the collect me from the airport. Aberdeen buses are cheaper, cleaner, more prolific and go where you need them to.
So what gets my goat: -
  • No obvious route to the airport by public transport, going via Piccadilly can have it's moments. Why didn't the new link road include the Metrolink?
  • Windlehurst & Hibbert Lane speed bumps, do NOTHING to improve the experience for cyclists or pedestrians, they actually make it more dangerous as motorists swerve to avoid the speed measures and the potholes, wrecking their car suspension and not keeping their eyes on the road ahead where the cyclists and pedestrians are; they're costly to maintain and are simply a way to deter motorists from using this route. The newest of these named as "Mitigation measures" following the opening of the new bypass being the most obvious deterrent that ever there was... what are they "mitigating" against... traffic!
  • Proposing to pedestrianise the main route through Marple Centre, is an honourable cause, but it only works if the vehicles have an alternative route; they don't!
  • Dan Bank has been a notorious problem for years, it and Windlehurst are the only two main routes in and out of Marple, and the latter has now been "mitigated". The new SEMMS bypass has increased traffic across from Hazel Grove to Bredbury, but our Green campaigners are adamant the £265k spend on a new cycle track along Otterspool is a better option than the full bypass we were denied, I've yet to see a cyclist on it; People need to wake up and smell the coffee, (and the fresh air), a bypass with moving traffic is far better than a congested commuter route with stationary cars belching out fumes around our schools, our homes and our pedestrianised "Village" centres.
  • Stockport Highways team, seem so intent on restricting traffic flow with their "improvements" rather than improving it. Narrower junctions, speed tables/humps/cushions, traffic light junctions with so many crossing options the traffic never gets a look in, the list goes on. All of these, stagnate traffic, cause queues and therefore increase polution and reduce air quality. Until there are tangible alternatives ACTUALLY available, the primary objective should be to improve traffic flow, not to restrict it.
  • Being charged to drop off at the airport, it's criminal and insulting, particularly when one considers the amount of investment given to the airport over the years from Greater Manchester council tax payers
My list could go on, but I've probably provided enough to be going on with. On a positive note, my trip home on a Friday from the airport is now a breeze since the new bypass opened, proof indeed that new roads perhaps ARE the answer! Just a shame about the crazy junction at Brookside Garden Centre though, another design classic!.... (you didn't expect me to pay a compliment without any tinge of negativity did you ;) ?)

admin

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Traffic Issues in Marple - what can be done about them?
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2019, 07:14:22 AM »
It's no doubt that traffic and transport are one of the key issues for Marple folk.

Getting in and out of Marple at peak times is a nightmare. The roads are blocked, the trains are overcrowded and the parking around schools is dreadful.

Sometimes it's not much better during the day - on the junctions of Hibbert Lane / Church Lane / Stockport Road for example.

So what can we do about it?

What are the blackspots?

What are the short term improvements?

And what are the longer-term solutions and are they likely to happen?

Local Councillors and candidates in the May elections, what are your thoughts and intentions on this?

@CllrKennyBlair, @TomDowseMarpleSouth, @Malcolm Allan, @Steve Gribbon and @ColinMac, @Claire Vibert, @BeckySenior , @Aron Thornley , @Carolyn Leather  @chriswallis labour

Forum users, what are the worst problems that impact your daily life and what do you suggest is done about them.

Keep it polite as always please!


Mark Whittaker
The Marple Website