Kingsway junction breakthrough as shorter queues promised
December 20, 2011 Iain Roberts 8 Comments

Local Lib Dems are celebrating a breakthrough in the long-running campaign to improve the Kingsway junction. Peak queueing time for cars turning right from Cheadle at the Kingsway junction are predicted to be slashed from 10 minutes to just two minutes, with similar improvements on the Gatley side.

That’s what the modelling predicts will happen when changes the Lib Dems have long campaigned and worked for are introduced as part of Highways Agency proposals to widen the slip road coming off the M60. The proposals should see queue times cut across the board, with biggest improvements for traffic turning right from Cheadle or Gatley and traffic coming off the M60.

Local councillor Iain Roberts said “The Highways Agency wanted to improve the sliproad off the M60, which was good news. As Executive member for Transportation on the Council, my message to them was clear: any scheme had to include improvements to the Kingsway junction too.”

Commenting on the good news, Cheadle MP Mark Hunter said “This is a genuine breakthrough that will make a big difference when the scheme is implemented. We have been working towards this for some years and I would also like to thank Keith Holloway and Cllr Pam King for all their hard work in getting us to this point.”

Proposed improvements to Kingsway and slip road(Click on map to see full-size)

Key changes include:

  • The current one lane slip road onto Kingsway will be widened to three lanes.
  • Much bigger “No entry except for access” signs will be put on the sliproad before the turnoff to the South Park Road Estate.
  • There will be traffic lights at the end of the sliproad, and on Kingsway where it meets the sliproad.
  • The lights on the sliproad will include a Toucan crossing (for pedestrians and cyclists)
  • The maximum cycle time of the Kingsway crossroads junction lights will be cut from 180 to 120 seconds, which doesn’t sound like a lot but the modelling suggests will have a huge effect on the queues, especially people turning right from Cheadle or Gatley onto Kingsway.

We have also asked the Highways Agency to look at putting a “Keep Clear” box where the exit from the South Park Road estate comes onto the slip road, to make it easier for cars to get out of the estate.

We will of course be closely monitoring progress to ensure the final scheme (which will hopefully go in next year) meets its objectives.

streets, transport

8 Comments

1
Kingsway junction improvements take big step forwards
Wednesday 21 December 2011 - 6:47 am

[...] Update: click here for more information on this following the December Area Committee meeting. [...]

2
richard horsnell
Thursday 22 December 2011 - 5:45 pm

er, so no dedicated right hand turn from gatley….

That said, the improvements to the kingway slips would be very welcome and as suggested may hopefully improve right turn times & safety.

3
Iain Roberts
Thursday 22 December 2011 - 6:27 pm

Hi Richard,

No, it’s been clear for well over a year that there will not be a dedicated right turn from Gatley or Cheadle. The main reason is that, however the timings are worked (and many different options have been suggested and modelled), it has the knock-on effect of longer queues elsewhere on the junction.

This option, the modelling suggests, not only makes the right turn much quicker but also makes other movements across the junction quicker too.

4
Andy
Tuesday 27 December 2011 - 4:37 pm

The more you facilitate for the easing of congestion, the more traffic will attempt to use the route, it’s a never ending vicious circle, it has been proven time after time.

Transport policy lies at the heart of the problem, it’s killing us all.

5
Iain Roberts
Tuesday 27 December 2011 - 5:44 pm

Yes and no. Making travel easier does lead to more people travelling, but that doesn’t mean it’s a vicious circle. A change to a junction can still have benefits that outweigh the increased traffic.

A case in point is the left-turn lane from the Gatley side, which has (modestly) improved the traffic flow from Gatley.

In this case, it’s likely that more people will turn right at the junction, so the improvements in right-turn times may not be as great as the modelling suggests based on constant traffic volumes (and that would also be true with any other improvement as well, of course). However, that’s traffic that currently uses roads like High Grove Road and Milton Crescent as a rat-run and so should have a knock-on improvement there.

6
Andy
Wednesday 28 December 2011 - 2:13 am

“A case in point is the left-turn lane from the Gatley side, which has (modestly) improved the traffic flow from Gatley.”

I did notice an initial improvement but that has since been eroded and it’s back to square one, as expected.

I prefer a ‘no build’ policy, forcing people onto public transport, many, despite their protestations can quite easily use PT.

Quote from a report,many research analysis conclude the same.

“Since roadway capacity expansion provides smaller net benefits than is often recognized,due to the effects of generated traffic, other solutions to transportation problems may provide relatively more benefits. A “No Build” option may become more attractive since peak-period traffic volumes will simply level off without additional capacity. This can explain, for example, why urban commute travel times are virtually unchanged despite increases in traffic congestion, and why urban regions that have made major investments in highway capacity expansion have not experienced significant reductions in traffic congestion”

7
Iain Roberts
Wednesday 28 December 2011 - 8:12 am

In fact the left-turn at Kingsway is very far from being back to square one.

Before it came in four years ago, I was careful to note what happened to traffic as it is easy to forget. Queueing went back to West End Avenue or further most days.

Four years after the left hand lane, queues very rarely reach that far back (usually it’s only when there’s been some crash or other big hold-up on the M60 that pushes traffic onto our roads) and the improvement has stayed fairly steady over those four years.

8
John Hartley
Wednesday 28 December 2011 - 1:31 pm

Living on the Soutb Park estate, I frequently turn left onto Kingsway, from Gatley. The filter light has, clearly, been an improvement.



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