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by Lib Dem team on 28 March, 2012
The A555 Relief Road, with a target completion date of 2017, will take a lot of traffic away from our busy town and village centres and bring jobs and economic development to the area.
But it’s not just drivers who are set to benefit. The new plans include a separate, wide path for cyclists and pedestrians along the whole length of the new road – right from the A6 to Manchester Airport. The path will be separated from the road, so you won’t be hit with all the noise and fumes, and it will even be retrofitted to the existing section of the A555.
This will give cyclists a dedicated off-road direct route east-west, connecting High Lane, Hazel Grove, Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Heald Green, Handforth, Poynton and the airport.
For the latest maps of the A555 route, see here.
15 Comments
Iain, I have to say I have not seen any figures that support your statement “will take a lot of traffic away from our busy…village centres”. Rather I wouldn’t be surprise if we had even more airport bound traffic at the Kingsway junction and how useful will that be??
Hi Alan,
There’s been a lot of work done on looking at traffic flows and asking motorists where they are going, from which the models and predictions are worked out. None of this is perfect, but I’ve taken the data from that.
I think it makes sense: if you look on a map, the most direct route to the airport from the Kingsway junction is the route you would take today – onto the M60 and M56. Going via Kingsway and the A555 would be slower and less direct.
Hi Iain. Thanks for the update. A target completion date of 2017 appears to represent a slippage from earlier commitments. Is there actually a published programme for the scheme? What is the intended date for a planning submission and construction commencement?
Regards. Roger
Hi Roger, I’m not aware of any commitment that had a target completion date of earlier than 2017 (unless it assumed the work started in the past!).
I believe that the aim is for planning permission to be submitted later this year, with construction hopefully starting in 2013.
Thanks Iain. I just think that with a hungry construction industry and the value of jobs created and the economic spin off from such infrastructure works we could do better !!
Regards. Roger
But it’s not just drivers who are set to benefit. The new plans include a separate, wide path for cyclists and pedestrians along the whole length of the new road – right from the A6 to Manchester Airport. The path will be separated from the road, so you won’t be hit with all the noise and fumes, and it will even be retrofitted to the existing section of the A555.
This will give cyclists a dedicated off-road direct route east-west, connecting High Lane, Hazel Grove, Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Heald Green, Handforth, Poynton and the airport.
Now thats what I call Bad Road Planning.
Don’t get too excited Roger, they are being a bit funny with the construction date with this road. They say its going to start in 2013, 2014, 2015. The General Elections are in 2015 and I don’t think the coalition government will not be around and I think we will have a new government forming e.g Labour and when they will come into power and a couple of months later they will have a budget and say “Right lads, lets cancel the A555 Relief Road because it is not that important.”
I am not surpise that they did not put a sleeping lane on a 2 lane dual carriageway where people can sleep on a road
On a another point, why do we need a another public consultation, we had already had on in 2003 and 2004. You got the money for it, the paper work has been put together. award the contractors the work and just built that bypass.
Iain, I work it all out the relief road will have 8 traffic lights on it, one for every junction, 40 mph from start to finish the worst one is on B5166 Styal Road to the Airport will have 4 traffic lights. The people and drivers in Hazel Grove are a bounce of miserable people and they deserve a RUBBISH, POOR bypass so well done Iain.
Iain, I think the A555 Relief Road going to Hazel Grove to Bredbury is going to be a poor bypass, traffic lights everywhere, 4 traffic lights thats including the B6104 Stockport Road West. It might not reach the M60 junction 25 it will start at the A560 crookilley way roundabout. A555 Relief Road Hazel Grove to Manchester Airport will be a POOR bypass. A555 Relief Road Hazel Grove to Bredbury will be a POOR bypass. They should call it the A555 ‘conflict’ Relief Road where people will be sharing road space will long distance traffic and cause massive queue in the rush hour period and the stupid cycle and pedestrian lane on a relief road where the cyclist and pedestrian will be smelling the fumes coming out of cars and trucks. That relief road is going to take 50,000 vehicles a day so it will be interesting to see a cyclist and a pedestrian walking on it. Now that what I call bad road planning. I am looking forward to hear your comments Iain.
No-one’s being funny with the construction date – the current aim is to start construction in 2014.
We do need to have another public consultation, as it’s been nearly a decade since the last one and the project is significantly different.
As for the road planning comments, I hope there won’t be cyclists and pedestrians on the road, as they have a separate path away from the fumes of the lorries (not a lane running alongside the road, a separate path).
Dear Iain,
A seperate path is still not good enough the cyclist and pedestrian will still smell the fumes coming off cars and trucks, they will have to cover their mouths with something. I heard in the news that diesel fumes causes cancer.
2014 is the start of the construction date you said. The General Elections are in 2015, so when this road gets built the new government will come along and say to the contractors “Right, lads go home and leave the road half built”.
I remember when Labour won the 1997 General Elections and they were about to cancel the M60 from being built from Denton to Middleton section so it will be half finished and John prescott cancelled the A6(M) motorway and the A555 extension to the airport. Are we going to be let down again.
Why don’t we all just get along, The british government are you hearing this…..
I mean just do that bypass.
I think you need to wait and see the proposals for the cycle path, and perhaps compare them to the paths alongside the Alderley Edge bypass and the sections of path alongside the A34 (a very busy road that I cycle alongside regularly with no problems).
As for what a possible future Labour government might do if they were to win the 2015 election, I would hope not but that’s for Labour to say!
Hello Iain,
Bad Road Planner is back, It will be interesting to see this cycle and pedestrian lane getting built on a 2 lane dual carriageway is it going to be a big massive lane same length as a car so cyclist and pedestrians have a lane divided by two, one for cyclist and the other for the pedestrian on a pavement away from the traffic. I heard rumours on the internet that this relief road so originally planned as a 3 lane motorway now that is not a surpise but it looks like a lowered down version of it and has been planned since 1945. The Knutsford bypass that is not going to get a cycle/pedestrian lane on it and it will not have any traffic lights on it aswell. Now that is what I call Bad Road Planning. It will be interesting to see the public inquiry about this relief road and you know what everyone are going to say improve the junctions on this Relief Road.
Luckily, we have good road planners at Stockport Council 🙂
It’s a separate cycle/pedestrian path running alongside the route of the road, not a lane.
I can’t comment on the Knutsford by-pass – I know very little about it, I’m afraid.
Hello Iain,
This is what the Hazel Grove bypass will look like in the next 50 years time when it gets built.
http://www.pathetic.org.uk/features/secret_history/maps
Click on ‘select map to view’, 1936 proposed motorway network.
And enjoy
There is no point building this relief road because it will be a waste of time and it will be empty all the time. No traffic on it what so ever because there will be traffic lights at every junction and they will change every 3 seconds and let one vehicle at a time.
Second point is that nearly £300 million as gone into this relief road so why don’t they improve the junctions and don’t do half a job on it. The contractors will be super rich when they get the award for it because most of the money will be going into their back pocket and half of it will go onto the relief road. Say about £64.8 million will go onto the relief road and £233.2 million will go to the contractors back pocket.
The third point is why are they call in it a relief road when it has got traffic lights at every junction on it. Now that what I call bad road planning that.
Don’t get too excited Roger, they are being a bit funny with the construction date with this road.
They say it is going to be built in 2014 or is it 2024 or 2034. I will see it when I believe it Iain Roberts
I am in my 30’s so by the time they finish it I will be in my 70’s collecting my pension.