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M19 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 19:56Why does the inside lane lack a painted edge strip. Looks unfinished. But then the widened section of the A1 western bypass also lacks a painted strip.
Because there’s a kerb. The kerb is the edge of the running lane with no hard strip between the two. It’s not designed for NSL.
It's a bit of a B&M Bargains road don't you think?
I don’t want to be too down on it, because it’s good that it’s finally opened, but yes, that’s the best description I’ve seen so far!
To say it’s been in planning since 1962, the finished result is not overwhelming. But still, good that it’s there at all.
The 50 limit is justified given the undulations in parts, it's very short on forward visibility under the Woodford Road bridge.
Disregarding the foibles, inefficiencies, dips, sightlines, wrongly-placed cones, missing paint, low-flying aircraft and any other whinges recently posted, we look forward to sampling this LONG-OVERDUE new road during our visit to Cheshire this weekend. Most of the local (and more remote) road users won't give a flying c**p about the details - they'll just rock up at the Styal Road traffic lights and think "hey, I can see the airfield - holiday starts in five".
I do however accept that from a puritanical viewpoint "it could have been better" but, in the real world...…
Avoiding Heald Green and being able to get to the boundary of the airport on a simple clean dual carriageway is a major step forward, especially for those of us who looked, in eager anticipation, at the western end of the "middle bit" about 20 years ago and thought "well, won't be long now...." In the interim, we've moved to Hampshire, run two businesses and are now moving back.
Now, the Poynton bypass.....
Mike
Mike Hindson-Evans. Never argue with a conspiracy theorist.
They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
I'm not really having a go about it, it's been done on the cheap but that's all non-trunk road schemes these days. My real gripe is the signing does not give the road any prominence or importance whatsoever and that's before the design issues are factored into them.
As a dual carriageway it's no worse than many 1930s arterial roads, and it will bring time savings for A6-M56 journeys, although the M60 link is really going to prove necessary before long because that is now an obvious gap.
However, traffic restraint should really be considered on the roads this has bypassed as one of the selling points is no longer having to drive through Woodford etc, so these routes should be modified to reflect that.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Chris5156 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 22:04
Because there’s a kerb. The kerb is the edge of the running lane with no hard strip between the two. It’s not designed for NSL.
I don’t want to be too down on it, because it’s good that it’s finally opened, but yes, that’s the best description I’ve seen so far!
To say it’s been in planning since 1962, the finished result is not overwhelming. But still, good that it’s there at all.
The 50 limit is justified given the undulations in parts, it's very short on forward visibility under the Woodford Road bridge.
Disregarding the foibles, inefficiencies, dips, sightlines, wrongly-placed cones, missing paint, low-flying aircraft and any other whinges recently posted, we look forward to sampling this LONG-OVERDUE new road during our visit to Cheshire this weekend. Most of the local (and more remote) road users won't give a flying c**p about the details - they'll just rock up at the Styal Road traffic lights and think "hey, I can see the airfield - holiday starts in five".
I do however accept that from a puritanical viewpoint "it could have been better" but, in the real world...…
Avoiding Heald Green and being able to get to the boundary of the airport on a simple clean dual carriageway is a major step forward, especially for those of us who looked, in eager anticipation, at the western end of the "middle bit" about 20 years ago and thought "well, won't be long now...." In the interim, we've moved to Hampshire, run two businesses and are now moving back.
We went through this several times over the weekend - what an improvement! easy access to the Lakeland shop on Wilmslow Road (alongside what had been the "western end" for decades).
Heading East, the junction where traffic turns for T3 (and the Airport pub) is now totally cone-free (picture below) with two lanes clear heading eastwards and a slip-road off to the right. I leaned across my chauffeuse to take the picture.
This new piece of road is an improvement - not before time, but a definite improvement.
Mike
Last edited by mikehindsonevans on Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:55, edited 2 times in total.
Mike Hindson-Evans. Never argue with a conspiracy theorist.
They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
I was up in Cheshire today, so I made a bit of a detour to take this in.
I can see the disappointment with some of the at-gradery but nevertheless it’s still quite a lot of fast modern new road. I don’t know the area that well but it must ease things around the airport quite a bit
It must be quite a bit better than the A6 through Stockport. One time I was on this stretch of the A6 and what I can remember is frequent traffic light junctions with long queues leading up to them. In addition to that, accessing the A6 from the M60 J1 is quite complicated if you are not familiar with the area. It is necessary to travel on tiny parts of the A560 and A5145 to get between the two roads.
Euan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 08:59
It must be quite a bit better than the A6 through Stockport. One time I was on this stretch of the A6 and what I can remember is frequent traffic light junctions with long queues leading up to them. In addition to that, accessing the A6 from the M60 J1 is quite complicated if you are not familiar with the area. It is necessary to travel on tiny parts of the A560 and A5145 to get between the two roads.
It's not an alternative to the A6 through Stockport to anywhere much though, it would need the link through to Bredbury building to be that.
At least it's not been as bad this week where it joins the A6, although it's half term.
Euan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 08:59
It must be quite a bit better than the A6 through Stockport. One time I was on this stretch of the A6 and what I can remember is frequent traffic light junctions with long queues leading up to them. In addition to that, accessing the A6 from the M60 J1 is quite complicated if you are not familiar with the area. It is necessary to travel on tiny parts of the A560 and A5145 to get between the two roads.
It's not an alternative to the A6 through Stockport to anywhere much though, it would need the link through to Bredbury building to be that.
At least it's not been as bad this week where it joins the A6, although it's half term.
There are obviously too any permutations of routes to consider but coming up to Stockport (on the A6) from the south then the new road will be useful to anyone who wants to head out to the west and to the north on the M6. I think there will be quite a mix of local traffic just using parts of the new road and others using it's full length.
avtur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:40
There are obviously too any permutations of routes to consider but coming up to Stockport (on the A6) from the south then the new road will be useful to anyone who wants to head out to the west and to the north on the M6. I think there will be quite a mix of local traffic just using parts of the new road and others using it's full length.
I could see the new road being helpful to those drivers travelling from Buxton and north Derbyshire towards the westbound M56 and ultimately the northbound M6 and westbound M62. You could also join the northbound M56 at Junction 5, then use the A5103 to join the clockwise M60 if you are travelling towards the M61/Bolton/Bury area.
Now that the A555 is fully open, has the signage at M56 Junction 5 been changed or is Manchester Airport still the only exit destination?
avtur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:40
There are obviously too any permutations of routes to consider but coming up to Stockport (on the A6) from the south then the new road will be useful to anyone who wants to head out to the west and to the north on the M6. I think there will be quite a mix of local traffic just using parts of the new road and others using it's full length.
Come to think of it (not that I was paying that much attention to where it was going) most of the traffic arriving on the A6 from the A555 last night was heading in the Buxton direction.
avtur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:40
There are obviously too any permutations of routes to consider but coming up to Stockport (on the A6) from the south then the new road will be useful to anyone who wants to head out to the west and to the north on the M6. I think there will be quite a mix of local traffic just using parts of the new road and others using it's full length.
Come to think of it (not that I was paying that much attention to where it was going) most of the traffic arriving on the A6 from the A555 last night was heading in the Buxton direction.
There is a lot of traffic comes up from the Peak District and beyond (the north west midlands) for the airport, I'm sure the new road is going to be a great improvement for a good number of travelers. East Midlands Airport has a good offering of flights but nothing like what Manchester has to offer so the catchment are for MAN is considerable. Same is true for Yorkshire/Leeds Bradford, not that the new road will help them.
Euan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 08:59
It must be quite a bit better than the A6 through Stockport. One time I was on this stretch of the A6 and what I can remember is frequent traffic light junctions with long queues leading up to them. In addition to that, accessing the A6 from the M60 J1 is quite complicated if you are not familiar with the area. It is necessary to travel on tiny parts of the A560 and A5145 to get between the two roads.
It's not an alternative to the A6 through Stockport to anywhere much though, it would need the link through to Bredbury building to be that.
At least it's not been as bad this week where it joins the A6, although it's half term.
Maybe not the whole road, but what I had in mind was the eastern section of the new A555 and the A34 being an alternative to the A6 through Stockport for reaching the clockwise M60 from the south east.
Robert Kilcoyne wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:59
Now that the A555 is fully open, has the signage at M56 Junction 5 been changed or is Manchester Airport still the only exit destination?
Don't hold your breath on that one.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Euan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 12:19
Maybe not the whole road, but what I had in mind was the eastern section of the new A555 and the A34 being an alternative to the A6 through Stockport for reaching the clockwise M60 from the south east.
Can't say the idea of that fills me with enthusiasm. I've not been along the new road but the stop-start on the A34 is more annoying in some ways than all the traffic lights on the A6. Think I'll stick to the A6 for the M60 clockwise for the time being (although I usually cut across and join the M60 at J2).
On traffic flows down the A6 it's curious to consider where a lot it is going to / from. Without actually counting I'm of course only giving impressions, but further out a fairly significant proportion turns off towards Whaley Bridge rather than carrying on down the Chapel-en-le-Frith bypass.
And why isn't there a single R.C.S. along the route in either direction?
I don't think there's been any new road project opened in the North West/Lancashire area in the last 40 years that has a decent set of R.C.S., apart from the A56 link from the M65 at j8 to the start of the M66!
