Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
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by Lib Dem team on 11 February, 2012
Keith Holloway and the Lib Dem team are supporting residents’ calls for a puffin crossing on Schools Hill and we’re asking others who live locally to support our campaign.
As regular readers will know, there have been two serious accidents on the crossing in the last few months, with a teenage girl and a man in his thirties being badly injured.
The Lib Dems have had the lights cleaned and the power turned up to make them brighter. We’ve had the lines repainted on the road. We’re getting the bus stop on the north side moved down to The Downs, so cars turning out of The Downs have better visibility and can get onto Schools Hill more safely.
But we believe a puffin crossing is needed too.
We are campaigning to persuade Sainsbury’s to fund a new crossing. As part of their expansion at Cheadle Royal, Sainsbury’s are paying money for improvements to local road safety as they are legally required to do. We are not asking Sainsbury’s for more money, but for their agreement to change what the money will be spent on to fund this puffin crossing.
Sainsbury’s are under no legal obligation to do this, but we hope they will be willing to help residents in the area of the store. That will enable a crossing to be put up much faster than if it has to come from the tight Council budgets where cuts mean there’s little money to spare at the moment.
We will be passing on all message of support for a crossing to Stockport Council and Sainsbury’s and we will report back on progress.
To show your support, please either comment to this post or email Keith at keith.holloway2@ntlworld.com (if you can include your address it would be helpful).
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Here is a campaign that I have to support. Previous attempts to solve this problem have only tinkered with it and I feel a Puffin crossing is the only way to solve it. This is a popular crossing and for that matter an essential crossing, as any pedestrian walking down Schools Hill on the left (as I do) has to cross here as shortly thereafter the pavement disappears. As it is located beyond a bend on a steep hill it can take many motorists by surprise, I’ve driven up the hill and stopped at this crossing to let pedestrians use it, only to see a car zoom past on the other side apparently oblivious to the crossing’s existence at all. Thankfully I haven’t seen anyone injured but clearly they have been, and we really don’t want to wait before someone is killed.
Good idea, but would it not be wise to reduce the speed limit to 20mph on this road, and inforce it as well? Then motorists will have a better chance of stopping at the crossing.
The main problem is the motorists coming DOWN the hill. A very large ‘slow/accident area'(?) sign would help, but a 20 mph speed limit would be a nuisance and unenforceable as it would need someone there to enforce it all the time. Bright spotlights at night would also help to highlight the crossing.
I also support this being made a puffin crossing, and I also think this should be a 20mph zone. Mike makes a good point about the lack of pavement. It is also very difficult for people crossing at the top of daylesford road as we do to access the park. We dont have the option of walking up to the crossing as there is no pavement. The fact the pavement is narrow also makes it dangerous. Given that the road is heavily used by pedestrians, many of them children, I would have thought that a 20mph limit would be much more sensible. I guess these things are never totally enforceable, but I think it would slow the majority of vehicles down and that can only be a good thing.
20 mph has to be the maximum speed between Turnfield and Daylesford if fatal accidents are to be avoided. Even better would be speed cameras. Fingers crossed that Sainsburys agree to the Puffin crossing.
Thats it Iain , go for a 20mph, at the very least it should help to reduce the speed of some motorists that clock well over the 30mph at present,and perhaps talk to Sainsbury,s or John Lewis about funding for a well placed camera or even the school could raise some funds from the rather well off childrens parents to help safeguard theirs and their childrens lives.
Hi Bob – I think those are all good ideas to look into.
We’re investigating a 20mph limit. There aren’t many places in the country that have them on main roads (I think one road in Portsmouth and I believe Islington is planning to introduce a few) so it’s not clear whether a 20mph limit will work as well on a main road as on residential roads. It could also have unwanted side effects (e.g. it could push more traffic down Daylesford Road?).
At the moment we just don’t know.
The changes we’re making, with the automated speed signs, moving the bus stop and – hopefully – a puffin crossing will definitely improve the situation. On top of that, a 20mph limit will need some careful thought.
there seems to be an obsession with 20 mph zones. as far as the puffin crossing goes, if the layout is the same as Gatley Road/Kingsway, i think the position of the red and green ‘men’ is appalling and i have, after several years of using this crossing, found it most dangerous. i am in favour of the traditional pelican on schools hill, though
Keith/Iain,
Pls accept this email as support for a Puffin crossing on Schools Hill and ideally a 20 mph zone. As a resident of schools hill for many years and a user of the crossing to take my children to school, the problem seems to be that pedestrians start crossing when traffic from either direction stops for them, but the traffic on the other side of the road fails to stop. In my experience this happens often. We always ensure that we only cross when both sets of traffic comes to a halt. Whilst a Puffin crossing is being arranged( a few months i would imagine), would it be possible to put some warning signs on the crossing advising non-regular users of the dangers of this crossing if not used in a certain way… To a non-local, this crossing looks ok and this could mean further incidents…