A556 Preferred Route Announced

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wrinkly
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by wrinkly »

Bryn666 wrote:All original plans had a junction with the A50. There have never been plans for slip roads at either end as this would have encouraged rat running up the A5034 from Knutsford.
I seem to remember at one stage there was a plan for north-facing slip roads to/from either Millington Lane or Millington Hall Lane.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Berk »

wrinkly wrote:
Bryn666 wrote:All original plans had a junction with the A50. There have never been plans for slip roads at either end as this would have encouraged rat running up the A5034 from Knutsford.
I seem to remember at one stage there was a plan for north-facing slip roads to/from either Millington Lane or Millington Hall Lane.
I think the implication is you should use the old road/B5569 to access the A50.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by fras »

The original original plans had a full all-directions junction with the A50. This seemed to disappear as time went on until we ended up with the current Dog's Breakfast.

And maybe somebody knows why the local road works are taking forever, longer than building the main road. Resources employed seem minimal.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Chris5156 »

fras wrote:And maybe somebody knows why the local road works are taking forever, longer than building the main road. Resources employed seem minimal.
Question asked and answered! Now the road is open the contractor has presumably shifted most of the workforce elsewhere and there's a very small crew left behind to finish off works that are not subject to the same strict time pressure of the main job.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by wrinkly »

It's not a new phenomenon! I remember the contract in the late 1980s that bypassed the Wetherby roundabout on the A1. As soon as the new mainline was opened, the contractor took most of the resources off the job, and the remaining works took many months to complete, including the route from Leeds to the north via the A58.

Maybe the structure of incentives and penalties in the contract has something to do with it.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Bryn666 »

Costain will indeed have moved most of their resources to the next high value contract, leaving a skeleton staff to do the detrunking works.

It is worth noting that at least the Tabley roundabout is finished so that's one less set of temporary lights to worry about.

Now we just wait for it to inevitably take several years to construct the smart motorway between J7 and 6 on the M56 as for some reason they are glacial schemes.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Berk »

Bryn666 wrote:Costain will indeed have moved most of their resources to the next high value contract, leaving a skeleton staff to do the detrunking works.

It is worth noting that at least the Tabley roundabout is finished so that's one less set of temporary lights to worry about.

Now we just wait for it to inevitably take several years to construct the smart motorway between J7 and 6 on the M56 as for some reason they are glacial schemes.
Maybe that's just so they can soak up even more of HE's budget... :stir:
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by fras »

So what people here are saying, is that the main contractor can complete the main work and then dilly-dally around with the local roads, (because they aren't an HE responsibility), and nobody chases them up. Well, tomorrow I am going to write an Imperial Rocket email to HE complaning of contractor tardiness and inaction by the HE in progressing the work.I don't suppose it'll get anything done any quicker, but it will make me feel better.

I am 71 today and consider the appellation "Grumpy Old Man" an honour. We need more grumpy people putting official hands to the fire, not fewer !!
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by darkcape »

From personal experience it's not that the local roads are not in the HE's remit, but traffic flows are way lower and so disruption is less. There may be utilities etc in the way that are slowing down the works that couldn't be touched until the new road was started etc
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by c2R »

darkcape wrote:From personal experience it's not that the local roads are not in the HE's remit, but traffic flows are way lower and so disruption is less. There may be utilities etc in the way that are slowing down the works that couldn't be touched until the new road was started etc
It also depends whether the beautifying of the old road is being done by HE as part of the project or whether its handed back to the LA (with or without an accompanying payment) in order for it to be progressed locally by local people...
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Fenlander »

fras wrote:I am 71 today and consider the appellation "Grumpy Old Man" an honour. We need more grumpy people putting official hands to the fire, not fewer !!
We need more of your sort, fire away.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by wrinkly »

The most serious anomaly in the A556 DLSs - the one DLS that went up long before the others, shown here - has been, I won't say fixed, but made less bad. Where it had B it now has J, though I'd have preferred A (and would have preferred B even more, if only it had been used consistently).

On the opposite carriageway there are now at least two signs that say M56 SPUR M that I think should be M56 SPUR B. I think there was only one before.

The works on the ex-A556 at Mere and Bucklow Hill junctions continue and still have their 4-way traffic lights; but other than that, the works to the ex-A556 and other side roads now seem just about finished. (There are some signs on the NMU route saying "Not finished, don't use" but it's not obvious in what way it's not finished.)
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by fras »

I'm going to the MIdget and Sprite Club meeting next Wednesday, so will see how far they've got with the Mere crossroads. Old Hall Lane that goes off to the left at the roundabout at the top of the exit just after Jn 19 seems to now be open. I wrote to HE about the delay in completing the ancillary works and spoke with a very nice chap from the contractors who said they had had a lot of trouble with utilities, some were found not recorded, and this had delayed the Mere cross-roads rearrangement. So I'm happy they are doing all they can. I still think the 60 mph on the new link is daft, though. There is also a 50 mph limit at the north end and one has to ask why. Are all new free-flow junctions to have low speed limits in the future ?
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by chaseracer »

Everyone was doing 70 on it last night - except me of course, Officer... :D
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Big L »

I see most, but not all, of the cones on the exit slip to the Bowden roundabout have been removed and there is now a 3 lane entry onto the roundabout. Still coned down to one lane at the start of the slip for no really obvious reason.

What are they doing to the roundabout by the way? Looks like they are putting very narrow hamburger-style roads through it - is there something there like an electric box that needs maintenance access?
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by Bryn666 »

Big L wrote:I see most, but not all, of the cones on the exit slip to the Bowden roundabout have been removed and there is now a 3 lane entry onto the roundabout. Still coned down to one lane at the start of the slip for no really obvious reason.

What are they doing to the roundabout by the way? Looks like they are putting very narrow hamburger-style roads through it - is there something there like an electric box that needs maintenance access?
It's a rebuilt DVSA checkpoint.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by wrinkly »

Big L wrote:I see most, but not all, of the cones on the exit slip to the Bowden roundabout have been removed and there is now a 3 lane entry onto the roundabout.
That's new. It was still 1 lane last Saturday.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by fras »

Just to report that progress has been made on the ancillary works, but they are by no means complete. The A50/Old A556 crossroads is still temporary lights. However one can see the bones of the junction. Interestingly, some sort of agriculture track has been built on the west side of the old A556 south of Mere using up about 1/3rd of the old formation.

Some people still seem confused by the new road. Just after Jn 19, a BMW in front of me went up the exit to go towards the old road and then promptly went back down the entry ramp to go back south !

Still 30 mph too !!
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by wrinkly »

fras wrote: Interestingly, some sort of agriculture track has been built on the west side of the old A556 south of Mere using up about 1/3rd of the old formation.
It's for cyclists and equestrians, as mentioned numerous times upthread.
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Re: A556 Preferred Route Announced

Post by fras »

It's a big thread !!
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