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by Lib Dem team on 10 July, 2014
Work on Manchester Road, Cheadle begins on Monday 14th July 2014 for 12 weeks. The work will be between the Mill Lane junction and the Manchester border, with temporary signals being in place.
Included in the work are a number of changes linked to the new cycle paths along the road, plus resurfacing of the road by the entrance to the Mill Lane cemetery.
66 Comments
Thanks for the update on this, Iain. Given how many people already cycle on Manchester Road, will special care be taken to ensure it remains safe for cycling during the works? (A starting checklist would be: (i) long stretches of temporary lights need sufficiently long phase gaps that cyclists entering on green can get through before oncoming traffic starts, (ii) temporary signs mustn’t be positioned where they obstruct cyclists and (iii) carriageway needs to be kept clear of construction debris….)
I hope that the needs of pedestrians will be met in this upgrade. In places footpaths are overgrown, litter abounds, footpaths are uneven.We are encouraged to walk but we need to walk with confidence in safety…..as is the aim for cycling provision.
The impression I got was that the ‘improvements’ are aimed at people who are currently non-cyclists and that commuting cyclists already using it need to find alternative routes if they wish to continue commuting safely and efficiently by bike.
Any improvements for cycling is a welcome thing. For those of you that are novice cyclists I will be leading an all abilities cycle ride on Monday evening. All details are on the Cheadle SK8 page. Everyone is welcome. Meet up on Cheadle Green at 7.00pm for a 7.15pm off.
Not sure a shared cycle/footpath will work. It’s a very noisy road and a lot of pedestrians use this route form Cheadle to Parrswood/Didsbury, its going to be difficult to hear cyclists when walking/walking your dog along a shared pathway.
On a further note, I contacted the council over two weeks ago about the lack of maintenance of the tress/shrubbery along the footpath from Cheadle-Parrswood, forcing pedestrians out into a busy road. I heard nothing back from the ‘contact us’ message I left on the SBMC website (absolute rubbish and very time consuming trying to find the correct section), so after I called the council, I was told that there was no money due to budget cuts?!
Great response, I wonder what the papers will make of this, or worse, if someone gets hurt by a car having been forced to walk in the road!
Hi Janet – yes the improvements are definitely for pedestrians too.
Alex – the improvements are aimed at getting more people cycling. Of those people who currently cycle, a small proportion want to be able to cycle at 20mph and agree for that sub-1% group (which you’re a member of!) they may not like these improvements. People who currently cycle at more average speeds are unlikely to have a problem.
One things that puzzles me with cycle lanes is what is the point when most of them have parked cars on them. I speak as a retired cycling postman. I can go on any route in the area and find cars parked in them the same way when we changed to trolley’s we had to walk in the road because of cars on the pavement and most posties still have to? Can anyone enlighten me as to the rules on them. I wrote to the chief constable as regards cars on pavements, traffic policeman came to see me and said they have to be seen to drive up on the pavement to be charged!! Sorry it’s long but I do feel for the cyclist.
Hi David – I agree. We have the problem of old, narrow roads that aren’t wide enough to have nicely separated road, parking, cycle paths and pavements unless we knock down half the houses and start again (rarely an option!).
We’re always left doing the best we can.
Cycle paths with a dotted white line are advisory – it’s not illegal to park or drive in them. They do have a use (for example, when traffic is stationary on Northenden Road cars generally stay out of them making it much easier for cyclists to pass the queues) but aren’t ideal.
Why not have a mandatory cycle lane? Probably because the road isn’t wide enough. Local residents often object to cycle lanes where it restricts their parking.
Where a cycle lane has an unbroken white line, it’s mandatory which means someone’s breaking the law if they drive or park in the lane.
In many cases, legal action can be taken against parked cars. If a car is parked in such a way as to obstruct the pavement (e.g. someone in a wheelchair can’t get past) then the police can take action. If it’s on a single or double yellow line than the council traffic wardens can enforce.
Just out of curiosity where are the stats from, when you refer to a “sub-1%” group? Genuine question since I’m pretty ambivalent about ‘cycle facilities’ – statistics about existing cycle usage would help inform my view.
Currently around 2% of journeys are made by bike. We want to get that to at least 10-15% and the experience in Holland and Denmark is that up to 30% of journeys by bike is possible.
If you look at the current 2% who cycle, I don’t know if we have formal statistics on how they break down. However, from my own cycling around the area I’d say that fewer than half of those are the faster cyclists doing 20mph or more and the majority cycle at around my speed or less (I trundle along at around 14mph).
It is an important question – we’re only recently starting to gather really good data on how many people cycle on different routes via automatic counters at key locations across Greater Manchester and the more data we can have, the better.
Just been browsing for speed limits on the shared use paths as I had a feeling you might be getting dangerously close at 14mph (the guidance I can find has various speeds from 8mph up to 18mph – the latter being the DFT guidance) so you’re just about ok but you need to be careful downhill… 🙂
But I came across this:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9179/shared-use-routes-for-pedestrians-and-cyclists.pdf
Which led me to wondering whether this is any budget allocated for fixing (or removing) the cycle lanes in stockport that are currently very badly designed, in some cases to the point of being dangerous? If there is, is there a mechanism for reporting badly designed/dangerous facilities?
Hi Alex,
Although there’s no specific budget for fixing or removing cycle lanes, we want to use the opportunity of the £100 million road repair investment to look at improving cycle facilities wherever we can.
Where there’s a road which would benefit from a new lane/path and it fits in, or where an old one needs to be removed, that would be an excellent opportunity to do it and, if a road’s being resurfaced anyway, may well not significantly add to the cost.
If you want to let me know of any roads/pavements where either an inappropriate lane needs removing or a new one could be added, I’ll make sure they get to the right place.
As a regular cycle commuter on this route and having had a good luck at the plans, I think the path will be useful even for rapid cyclists going southbound in the evening rush-hour, since using the main carriageway means filtering past near-stationary traffic. But I can’t envisage any circumstance in which it will be useful northbound: crossing the carriageway twice to reach/leave the path is far less convenient and probably more dangerous than cycling the intervening stretch on the main carriageway.
Iain, can something be urgently done to combat the wider issues this work is causing in Cheadle Village please?
The delays this work is causing are horrendous. This morning I waited for a bus in the village to go to my work in Gatley. 55 minutes I waited for a bus, when there should be one every 11 minutes. The bus driver said the congestion backed up all the way up Stockport Road, through Roscoes into Cheadle Health, and all the way to the top of Edgeley Road in Stockport.
The issue is with the lights on Manchester Road, (towards Didsbury), this backs up into Cheadle village, traffic can’t get throught the lights in the village, and so causes a 5 mile tailback (Stockport pyramid/Stockport College). It’s similar in Parrswood.
I’ve called TfGM who are appalled and very concerned. Stagecoach too are looking at ways in arresting this work, with the part-closure of double way traffic on Manchester Road Didsbury – this can not be allowed to continue in this format – why was no consideration to chaotic congestion given in the first place?
I’m taking this up with the SMBC and our MP later today as a matter of extreme urgency but thought I’d give you opportunity to correct this first.
Hi – I’ll look into it and see what we can do to improve things. TfGM would have been consulted about the works and the scheduling over the summer aims to avoid the busiest times of the year. If there are other improvements that can be made, I’ll see what can be done.
Still traffic chaos today (2 December) as work is still going on. BTW, the cyclists steer well clear of the new cycleway. They still use the road. Well planned, whoever!
Hi Pete, it’s still only half-finished, but please read back on the article and my comments to see the reason for building the cycle path. Very happy for people to suggest alternative ways to solve the traffic problems in the area.
It may be summer, BUT most local authority schools have yet to finish term. It would have been better if they had waited another couple of weeks before beginning this latest phase in the work. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
They’ve got to fit in the works, which take longer than the holidays. However, the timing on the lights should be working better at rush hour so we’re chasing it up to make sure the workmen follow the proper procedure to minimise delays.
STREWTH ! – Councillor – you really have come to life on this matter !
Now then, what about the other blogs ? … !
It would make a lot more sense if the cycle path along Manchester Road was linked to a proper cycle path up Mill lane and connected through Brook road so that Cheadle High street can be bypassed.
That’s the idea – the path from Brook Road to Mill Lane has been widened and improved so with the cycle path on Manchester Road you’ll get a quiet route right the way through. The path from Kingsway to Mill Lane has also been tarmaced to put that link in place.
Iain
While I can see the benefits this work could bring…it will be useless at weekends unless something is done about the users of the Parrs Wood Playing Fields (football and softball teams) using the pavement along Manchester Road as a car park. The widened pavement will simply be used as off road parking! How do you plan to combat this?
Hi Iain,
Do you know what the plans for the Parrs Wood end of this scheme is when it reaches the Mersey? From the plans, it’s hard to see what cyclists heading towards Parrs Wood will do when they reach this point, as it looks like the path ends abruptly, with no easy way of continuing.
As someone who commutes to Cheadle along Manchester Road, I generally welcome this scheme. Though if it’s difficult to use, or there’s too many detours around the Parrs Wood area, a lot of people just won’t use it. If they choose not to, cycling on the road will be worse than it was as it’s now a lot narrower. Although there’s plans to lower the speed limit, I wonder how many drivers will actually take notice of it.
I know this area falls under MCC rather than Stockport, but I’d hope for a joined up approach, given it’s part of Velocity 2025.
Hi Dominic, I agree on the need for a joined-up approach and for fairly direct routes.
The path widening continues towards Parrs Wood near the Mersey – I’m hoping that MCC will be able to do some work to make it easier to cycle around those grim Parrs Wood junctions too.
Hi Iain,
Now that the road has been narrowed, this means that there is even less room to pass cars that are queuing Northbound in to Manchester. Can the council at least make sure that the hedgerow is cut back, since the Hawthorn caused some damage to my leg on this morning’s commute and I feel it has become more dangerous to cycle along that stretch of road. I can’t see that many commuters would get off their bikes twice, to cross a busy road to use the bike path on the other side.
Hi Owen – it remains legal for people to cycle on the road of course, though we’re not going to get more people cycling unless we provide off-road options. The reality is that (going by what others have achieved) we could get 10-20% of journeys made by bike instead of the 1-2% at the moment, but not if we make people cycle on busy roads with the traffic. That’s fine for confident commuter cyclists but no good for encouraging new riders to get on the saddle.
If you let me know the location of the hedgerow I’ll chase it up.
Thanks for your reply. Of course I’m all for encouraging people on to their bikes (There are far too many motorists making less than 5 mile journeys on their own), but not to the detriment of other cyclists. I know you say this is part of a bigger scheme, but I’m not sure that many new cyclists will be tempted on to that stretch of road, especially with having to get off your bike to cross Manchester road twice and the junction at Parrswood.
To be honest, I always felt that simple, well defined cycle lines on both sides of the road would make it a lot safer…and a much cheaper option.
The hedgerow that is encroaching on to the road runs the full length of the farmer’s field, just past Golden days to the Mersey.
Not by forcing people off the road and into pedestrian traffic either. Don’t see much of that in Copenhagen.
Use the cycle path then! Am I missing something here? Strewth!
There is no cycle path. It’s a mixed use pavement with pedestrians who can’t hear you coming having the bejesus scared out if then because tegu don’t realise it.
Hi Iain,
Have just come across this forum and would like to express my concern at the latest cycleway development at Manchester Road, Cheadle. As a regular commuter on this route to Manchester i’m really struggling with how this NEW path makes it easier for cyclists!
Two cross-overs (one into oncoming traffic), cars parked on the path (football at present / softball during summer, i guarantee) and abuse from motorists as when cannot use the path.
Looking at the plans, this path is probably suitable for people going from Cheadle to Stockport and vice versa, but what about Manchester. It seems that this hasn’t been considered, it would be interesting to see the information gathered about cycle usage on this route and the type of cyclists.
As you can gather i’m totally disappointed with this development, we are home to the National Cycling Centre and talk about being forward thinking, but it seems again that we have missed the point.
Hi Wayne,
The work is part of a much-larger Greater-Manchester wide project to get more people cycling. Over the next year or two the aim is to improve links to Stockport and Manchester and create a network of end-to-end routes where people can cycle without going on busy roads or having to navigate complex junctions. From evidence in other countries we know that if we don’t take that approach, we limit the number of cycling journeys to around 2% – with improved infrastructure we’re aiming initially for 10%. More may be possible, but it takes quite a while.
I’ll ask again Iain as you seem to have skipped past my post. If you drive by the new widened footpath on a Sunday you will see it is now being used as a car park by users of the Parrs Wood playing fields – this makes it impossible for cyclists (or people with pushchairs) to navigate their was through safely. What are the plans to combat this as the yellow lines appear to be being ignored?
Hi Dan,
I understand a lot of people got parking tickets at the weekend. Because we now have double yellow lines, the Council can enforce which it couldn’t before. This has been a long-running problem (several years to my knowledge) and I’m glad that for the first time we’re able to really tackle it.
As a regular user of this route (I live in Cheadle and work in Parrs Wood High School), can I ask when this project will be finished?
We are now over 20 weeks into a 12 week project, with no end in sight.
The road and pavement are now in a worse state than they were before it started, and there are regularly cyclists dodging the oncoming traffic and ignoring the shared cycle way which has narrowed the road to the point where there really is no room for cars and cyclists to safely pass each other anymore.
For the cyclists, I can quite see why they don’t want to use parts of the cycle way, for example the “ramp” up onto the pavement at the Cheadle end is quite harsh, the pavement to the Cheadle side of the Abney Hall entrance is unfinished and has raised edges and a raised inspection cover.
The section over the motorway bridge seems to have been abandoned to a barrier segregating the road and cycle way, presumably as the planning stage failed to pay attention to it being on a bridge, and the ramp from pavement to road level seems particularly harsh, as it looks to be nearly 45 degrees; I wouldn’t want to ride up it on any sort of skinny road bike tyres.
For the road user, a second section where a strip was cut across the road is now sinking causing a nasty pothole going towards Manchester just before the bridge over the M60 (I do note that the previous area a little before this part where the new pedestrian island was constructed has been patched, and the area in front of the exit from Alexandra Hospital re-surfaced over the weekend).
And as a special treat, a contractor, I assume on behalf of MCC, threw up some temporary traffic lights on the bridge over the Mersey yesterday, which this morning caused traffic to be tailed back all the way down Manchester Road, through Cheadle Village and past Councillor Lane. I don’t know how much further it went as I joined the chaos at Rosco’s Roundabout. It would be much appreciated if the roadwork teams can try and leave the road able to pass traffic both ways without the temporary traffic lights when they are not working, as the period before they start work in the morning is when most of the traffic builds up. The team who build the curb over the railway bridge between the entrance to Golden Days/The Cheshire Line Tavern and the private house which used to be the other station did at least manage that (though that has also narrowed the road).
Overall the whole project seems to have been ill thought through, and poorly implemented with little, or no coordination between Manchester City Council and Stockport MBC, leading to a result which has actually made the road more dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
Please could you see if you can find out when MCC and SMBC are going to finish their little 14 week project which is now in it’s 20th week?
Hi Bryn – I rode it today on a road bike – no problem. The Stockport section was completed in time, except for the motorway bridge which has been delayed due to issues with the Highways Agency. I appreciate that projects are not perfect during construction – a half-finished road or railway doesn’t tend to get too much use either – but it is important to see the routes joining up to give people end-to-end off road and low traffic cycle routes.
Hello Iain,
Having had occasion this morning to walk down Manchester Road, I have to disagree with you; it most certainly is not finished.
The section of shared pavement from just past the M60 motorway bridge to the construction at the Stockport/Manchester border is a lovely smooth finished product.
However the pavement either side of the M60 bridge is unfinished and uneven. Also the section of pavement from opposite Mill Lane Cemetery to the Abney Hall entrance is missing the top coat of tarmac, so the inner edge of the curb and all the covers over the services are raised about 3/4 of an inch above the level of the pavement (There is a potential personal injury claim right there).
There is also a set of three small service covers just off the Manchester side of the M60 bridge which are a good 3/4 inch proud of the current level of the pavement.
All these will I’m sure be resolved, when they finally complete this phase of the construction.
To my original question about time scales, which you didn’t really answer; Can you find out when the whole construction project will be competed?
I concede the 12 week cycle path phase may be complete (apart from as I have noted above), but that obviously doesn’t mean the construction on Manchester Road has finished.
I don’t think there has been a single day since the 14th July start of this phase of the construction where there hasn’t been cones and down the side of the road for example, I concede that some of this may be the problematic section over the M60 bridge, but after the cycle path was constructed, there was then an improvement to pavement outside the Alexandra Hospital and the adjacent bus stop, the construction of a new pavement on the section of the road between the entrance to the garden centre over the railway bridge, the much needed re-surfacing of the road outside Alexandra Hospital (currently not finished as the white lines have not yet been painted, unless it has been done in the last day or so), and the currently underway construction on the bridge over the Mersey.
I look forward to your response.
Bryn
Hi Bryn – I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with. I said it wasn’t finished. As I mentioned, I don’t have the answer as to when all the work will be done. The Manchester side is being managed by Manchester Council and I don’t know what their timescales are right now. The section over the motorway has been delayed by the Highways Agency and I don’t know when they’ll agree work can continue. I’d like it to be done as quickly as possible.
I suggest you come and see how Manchester Road is actually being used. It’s far worse now, with cyclists not using the cycle path and motorists now unable to pass them either way as oncoming traffic on a narrower road doesn’t allow them to.
It’s a disaster.
Hi Paul – would it make sense to wait until the works are completed before judging? I do appreciate the issue, and I agree it would be great if we could get in the new infrastructure in a way that didn’t lead to this half-way house situation, but I do think the works need to be finished and given time to bed in.
Not really, it just requires some imagination. Do you think the existing road-confident cyclists will be encouraged to use that road more or less as a result of trying to force them to mix with unwitting pedestrians? They won’t use the path, because it’s not a cycle path, it’s a pavement. So you’ve just made the road worse for motorists, as they can no longer pass safely and easily and now have to wait for the entire length of the road to pass, if they a prepared to pass safely. Less road confident cyclists, who previously had a nice, wide road for cars to usually pass them safely, now have to mix with pedestrians and cross a busy carriageway twice to get on the path.
It’s all very well saying ‘wait for it to bed in’ but it will not change. I have not spoken to a single cyclist who rides on that section of road who is not incredulous that a previously safe, wide road has been narrowed, the alternative being ‘ride on the pavement’.
As a weekday commuter on this I can assure Ian that most cyclist are not using the cycle/pedestrian path and, indeed, why would they when, heading to Manchester, they have to cross a busy road twice.
I have seen one cyclist in the inside lane parallel with one in the middle of the road in slow moving traffic causing havoc and endangering their lives. I fear that the ‘improvement’ may have been a retrograde step in many ways and that it will lead to to cyclists being injured as I have seen many near-misses particularly in the evening rush hour.
Surely it would have been better if extra land had been purchased to widen the road and provide adequate cycle paths on both sides of the road.
Regarding the ‘improvement’ to Cheadle High Street, these have produced increased traffic jams which, in turn, lead to more exhaust pollution and increased fuel use. This is hardly environmentally friendly.
Also, you must take on board that a frustrated, impatient motorist is not the best person to share traffic space with, be you motorist, cyclist or pedestrian.
Hi Paul – you’re right: because the work is only half finished, cyclists currently have to cross the road twice. When the scheme is completed that won’t be the case. Had it been possible to purchase the extra land that would certainly have been a good option.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with the road network we have and it needs to be used by drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike so we need to find ways of doing that as best we can. Everyone gets frustrated, but if we can get more people cycling that the motorists left in their cars will have an easier journey and less frustration!
Hi Iain,
Thanks for the feedback. I would be interested to know how cyclists heading for Manchester will not need need to cross over – are we to see some futuristic auto-levitation devices?
This morning I saw a cyclist and jogger heading for one another and almost colliding. I feel that a clear protocol on the signs would help this situation.
Why can’t all the signs be like the ones near the motorway bridge where the two factions are depicted side by side instead of one above the other?
Finally, I note that you didn’t comment on my view that the Cheadle High Street ‘improvements’ would increase pollution.
Hi Paul – I said there would be no need to crossover twice.
We can take a look at signage.
For as long as I can remember traffic through Cheadle has been pretty much solid during busy periods – I don’t think the changes will increase pollution and I’ve not seen any evidence to suggest it might. However, the extra crossing will improve safety and make it easier for shoppers to move around the village centre.
So, we’re in to the New Year now and it’s still not finished! I know you say there’s an issue with the Motorway bridge, but what about the stretch between Abney Hall and the Hospital?
Also, my legs are still getting ripped by the encroaching hedgerow. Surely this is an easy fix???
I also note that at the weekends the pavement is still being used as a car park, making it even less usable for cyclists!
I have been commuting to Manchester from Cheadle Hulme for the last 35 years both by cycle and car.
This road was one of the safest sections as it was wide enough for cars to pass with plenty of room.
What is clear is that the combined pedestrian/cycle way is not wide enough to cater for both cycles and pedestrians travelling in both directions and cyclists and pedestrians together is dangerous considering the speeds some cyclists are capable of.
The road is now narrower and far more dangerous for cyclists that continue to use it. It appears to be very ill considered, for me it has certainly made the cycle to work more dangerous. It appears to be an example of good intent without understanding, it’s not the first and I fear not the last.
Thanks Roger – it is a difficult one. You’re right that, if we were building infrastructure designed simply to take the 1-2% of journeys currently made by bike then it would be daft to do it this way: those people are generally happy cycling on the roads. In the 35 years you’ve been cycling the number of journeys made by bike has stubbornly refused to rise – clearly something has not been right.
If, however, we ask the question “How do we turn that 2% of journeys into 10% of journeys?” the answer changes. We need end-to-end routes away from traffic to get more people cycling (and if we don’t do something then we run out of road space for cars before too long). There are compromises to be made. Manchester Road clearly needs to have better cycle facilities, and at the same time it is the width it is and it isn’t realistically possible to widen the whole road.
So yes, I think the understanding is there – but it’s understanding that this is one part of a larger jigsaw to create a network of routes across Manchester that will see many more people cycling and change transportation across the city.
There is a real issue that it’s difficult to cater at the same time for experienced cyclists who want to go on the road at 20mph and new cyclists who want a safe route to cycle at 10-16mph, and for that I will freely say we don’t have a perfect answer given the limited space so the network is about doing the best we can with a target of 10% of journeys being made by bike in 2025.
Iain,
Many thanks for you quick reply, below is my delayed reply…
Firstly I appreciate that this area is not easy…and I have given your comments some thought.
With regard to increasing the ratios of cyclists, the number of cyclists has certainly increased over the years, but so has the number of cars, so the ratio maybe unchanged but it appears to have increased.
In terms of cycle lanes and general road safety improvements, on the route I take there have been many. Cheadle High Street, better for pedestrians but not good for cyclists as it has created ‘pinch points’ at the crossings forcing cyclist at times into the path of cars. Parrs Wood Road cycle lane is reasonable although cars regularly park in the cycle lane making it ineffective. Fallowfield is generally good an innovative. Curry Mile in the direction moving out of Manchester is an improvement, as this is between parked cars and the road in is generally clear – an improvement but you need nerves of steel.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/curry-mile-tops-list-most-7922394
Approaching the University is generally good taking cyclists off the road and crucially separating pedestrians and cyclists, (I on the whole still use the road as the cycle path involves too many crossings).
Back to Manchester Road, it does not appear to be finished? Surely the section over the bridge was not planned to be left like this?
As said the road is more dangerous I don’t think that this is in dispute, so what of the cycle lane? My concern remains in that it is too narrow for both directions. There is no demarcation for direction of travel and/or segregation of cyclists and pedestrians and right of way is not clear. I could quite easily reach 25mph+ on sections of the path, do you know if the intent was for faster cyclists to still use the road to avoid this scenario?
Going back to encouraging cycling, on a more philosophical note, consideration is needed to determine if it’s better to improve the behavior of motorists (and cyclists) or give up and get cyclists off the roads?
In my work I do a lot of travelling, cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen have very large cycling populations. In both cities cyclists have a much greater presence and on the whole motorists are more accommodating. Interestingly in Copenhagen, the weather is ‘worse’ that Manchester so this is not a deterrent. However, including fuel tax, the additional tax of buying a car is 180%…. car ownership is 29%
Finally I work a lot on San Francisco and an American colleague who cycles in to the SF office came over to Manchester for a week. After a few days he said to me ‘you cycle to work don’t you’, I replies ‘yes’. He then said ‘are the cars trying to kill you’, I replied ‘yes’. Now obviously they are not, but the point is that compared to what he is used to his perception was that they are. He then added that he would not cycle to work over here.
Iain,
Please can you provide a contact for the project manager who is responsible for executing the improvements on Manchester Rd from Parrs Wood to Cheadle. As I understand it there are several parties involved (Highways Agency, Manchester Council etc) but I assume there is someone who has overall responsibility?
I ride this road (on the road, not the new ‘shared use path’) to and from work everyday and am completely fed up of being harassed by motorists who, understandably, think I am ignoring the cycle path out of sheer bloody mindedness. In reality, I do not ride on the shared use path because:
1. There are no markings on it to split north and south bound users.
2. The motorway section ends abruptly, with a rough 6 inch drop, and in the dark this is an accident waiting to happen.
3. Coming from Cheadle to Manchester, I would have to cut across the traffic twice to join and leave the path. Why would I want to introduce more risk to my journey by doing that? I would be interested to see what the final solution proposed is for Manchester bound users joining and leaving the shared use path.
Currently, we have a narrower road and a useless, apparently poorly planned, half finished, hazard filled shared use path.
Thanks for reading and I look forwards to receiving a contact for the person responsibly who I can speak to directly on this matter.
Interesting not to see a response….nor from my last comment!
Also, the shared path needs to be kept clean. I do use it on my commute home (southbound), but I am fed up of having to avoid branches and other debris that would normally get cleared away by the traffic on the road.
If you’re referring to Matt’s comment, I responded to him directly by email.
I regularly drive down this stretch of road. It used to be relatively pleasant with plenty of space to overtake cyclists. It is now something of a nightmare with much narrower lanes but still with cyclists on the road. As far as I can see the work done is not an improvement except perhaps for the few pedestrians who use this route.
Hi Nicky, as mentioned above it has to be seen in the context of a wider network of off-road cycle routes to get more people cycling. That doesn’t happen overnight but is important if we’re to stop our roads grinding to a halt over the coming years and decades.
Have to agree with you there. This pavement that allows cyclists on it has ruined a perfectly good road. It’s made it worse for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. It has absolutely NO positives, it is a faux-pas, a folly, and I can think of another two words which also describe it…
It’s alright saying we want to see more cycling. But how is ruining an existing road doing this? Just how much money have they got that HAS to get spent every year? Why not give it to St Annes Hospice or somewhere that needs it? The roads are getting worse everywhere, white centre lines being moved three foot off centre, then parking bays put at the side of the road where cars used to park anyway, red lanes, green lanes, one way systems, it’s all an absolute JOKE. If I worked at the planning dept. that makes these decisions I’d have a long think about my conscience. Indeed, if I was a councillor and I knew what was going on unnecessarily I too would hang my head in shame.
Hi Jamie, I won’t go over the argument for building a joined-up cycle network again – it’s been proven to be the right approach time and again and the evidence is very strong.
As for the money, that comes from the Government’s Cycle City Ambition Grant so is specifically directed to improving cycling facilities.
> the argument for building a joined-up cycle network again – it’s been proven to be the right approach
Agree.
However, the Manchester Road example has not been well designed, is not being used by a lot of cyclists and the road is more dangerous.
You make a generic point in defense of a specific instance. Your statement is only valid when the design is effective (see points made in my comments on Feb 18th and other general points raised in other posts).
Could you comment on the specifics.
Regards
Glad to find that I’m not the only one who finds the Manchester Road scheme misconceived. I don’t cycle much, but I do drive up and down the road and occasionally walk along it.
If I were a frequent cyclist I’d be put off by having to dismount and cross the road twice on a northbound journey. This is in fact exactly what is happening. Cyclists are still using the main roadway instead of using the – ridiculously wide – cycle path. The effect of this is to make life more rather than less dangerous because what was once a wide thoroughfare with easy overtaking is now a narrow rat-run where traffic backs up behind cyclists. It slows cars because they must often wait for traffic coming the other way.
I have absolutely no doubt that the people responsible for planning and designing this scheme did so with the best of intentions. But it is another case of the law of unintended consequences. As with the Gatley lights alterations, an enormous amount of public money has been spent making a tolerable situation worse. If a mischievous civil servant had set out to make Manchester Road more inimical to cyclists, slower for motorists whilst wasting taxpayers money in the process, this is exactly what he or she would have done.
It’s a shame that public servants who make these decisions can’t put up their hands and say, “we got it wrong”, rather than trying to bluster their way out of it.
Field Report
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A lot of the initial exchanges had a wait until complete sentiment before moving to a general generic reply. Anyway, now that we have had a few months of using it, here is a field report:
1. On the whole cyclists are not using the pedestrian/cycle path from Cheadle to Parrs Wood. The road is now dangerous for cyclists
2. A consequence of (1) is that cars are now getting blocked behind cyclists
3. The pedestrian/cycle path is being used by more (but not all) cyclists when travelling towards Cheadle. (I use it when pedestrian traffic is light, otherwise I stay on the road) (1) and (2) apply but generally less so
4. I occasionally run home from work – improvement for solo runners
On current behavior (1) & (2) will get worse Oct – Mar during darkness and heavier commuting activities
I assume at some point in the future the bridge section will be complete?
Regards
Roger
Thanks Roger – we’ll have to keep an eye on it as the scheme progresses and is completed. As you rightly point out, it’s not yet finished and we’re still waiting for Highways England to approve the works over the motorway bridge.
I’ve also observed that more cyclists are using the cycle path now, which is encouraging – hopefully that move will continue.
Field report 1 – Jan-Jun 2015
I have been using Manchester Road since the cycle/pedestrian walkway was implemented and still trying to understand why it happened at all?
1) Commute from Cheadle – so i don’t use the cycle lane from Cheadle to Manchester as crossing the road twice doesn’t really appeal to me and I feel safer on the road (believe it or not). I’m not the only one taking this viewpoint, any chance we can keep the hedgerows clipped back Iain?
2) Commuting back at night is interesting – due to a lack of markings, pedestrians / runners / cyclists are all heading on a collision course – a few near misses have happened. Markings have been laid on the new extension near Hollywood Way so why not here?
3) Motorway bridge – still waiting on the Highways Agency I presume? So, as we keep mentioning the drop of 4-6 inches, at the start and end, is ridiculous. I’ve helped a few cyclists who have come a cropper on these and they’ve stated that using the car is a better option, great! Also i’ve broken 4 spokes on this section and was wondering will the council reimburse me?
4) Pedestrian crossing – so as we ride to Cheadle from the bridge we approach Abney Hall… watch out for the cars… then we have to dodge the crossing posts – why NO reflective markings on the posts for night-riders is beyond me. Then we hit the joining point (cycleway and road) and no notification to drivers that this exists, amazing.
5) Partial resurfacing of the road – all way through to Cheadle, near the Alex is pretty rough, but the area near the Ashlea and railway bridge is disgraceful.
So, after over 6 months of trying this out i’ve gone back to using the road. I feel safer on the road WITH the cars and the poor road conditions.
It seems crazy that this cycleway was meant to encourage more use, but things like this are a deterrent.
This route is anything but progressive!
Will send another field report later in the year – dark nights are going to be fun, so watch this space.
W
Further field report.
I concur with the others, I do tend to use the cycle way, reluctantly, when going from Parrs Wood to Cheadle. This is for two reasons, either entirely unsafe overtaking from impatient cars or aggressive engine revving/horn/shouting/getting called a c**t for riding on the road towards Cheadle. It’s not much less safe than is was before, when previously it was the safest busy road I used.
On the way to Parrs Wood is marginally better, although the horn/overtake stuff exists, it’s less serious since in the morning when I’m travelling towards Parrs Wood, traffic to Cheadle is light therefore the road has space.
Every single cyclist I have spoken to on the road shakes their head in disbelief at the changes.
Quick update.
It’s still not finished, and’s been open for a year. The worst parts of it are the unfinished bits.
Pretty often the shared path is now also shared with horses, and the combination of leaf mulch, rain and horseshit is great.
What were the KPIs for this work?
Very frustrating Highways England still haven’t given the go-ahead to allow the council to finish it, but I’m told progress is being made.
As a driver I’m frustrated by this on a daily basis. Its really helpful to see the concerns of the cyclists here as I’ve not heard those views and have found the insistence on cycling in the road incomprehensible. From a drivers’ perspective the road has been narrowed to such an extent we are no longer able to pass cyclists in the rush hour, while the space has been taken up by a cycle path that is little used. What used to be 40mph becomes 15mph or the like when there’s a cyclist you can’t pass in front of you. That doesn’t mean I support aggressive driving – I don’t beep or rev on purpose, although driving at 15mph involves gear shifts and can result in incidental revving. But am I angry about the road works being such a dogs dinner that its now more dangerous than it was? Yup. Sort it, before someone is killed.