Cheshire East's latest wizard camera scheme !

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fras
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Posts: 3590
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 18:34

Cheshire East's latest wizard camera scheme !

Post by fras »

So today we took the SLK for a spin in the rather damp weather. After getting onto the A536 to drive to Macclesfield I noted the usual two Specs camera poles at Eaton village which have been there for some months now, (its 40 mph). Then I started to notice pole after pole of cameras all the same as the Eaton ones. Between Eaton and Macclesfield, (10 kms), there must be between 15 and 20 of them, although I confess I didn't specifically count them. The last pole is right into the Macclesfield suburbs !

Wondering what was going on, I went onto CEC's website. At first I found nothing current, but then found that an application was made under a Government "Safer Roads" initiative in 2017. So I presume this is it being implemented. Outside two 40 mph restrictions, (Eaton and Gawsworth) the road is NSL. Yet after 26 years living near Crewe, I have never managed to approach 60 mph on this road, most of the time it's between 40 and 50 mph. I was not aware it was regarded as particularly dangerous either. The camera count must be higher than on the M6 Smart Motorway a few miles away !! Obviously that NSL limit is disappearing but I have not read anything in the local papers. CEC are, like almost all councils, very secretive when it comes to new speed limits. I suppose it will be 50 mph, and I hope barminess does not prevail and make it 40 mph. 50 mph would be OK, as the road is certainly not suitable for 60 mph, but then almost nobody tries to drive that fast anyway.

As the road is totally unsuitable for anything close to the NSL most of the time and when most traffic is around, the camera installation just seems like total overkill. Its shown in the estimates as over £1 million.

The really useful upgrade is to be traffic lights at the cross-roads at Gawsworth. Now this really IS needed, In fact if that was just what the upgrade was, I suspect it would solve the accident rate on its own. The accident figures up to 2017 are listed in the 2017 application.

The actual costs and project details are not on the CEC website, only the scheme application.
https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highway ... d-bid.aspx
https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highway ... d-bid.aspx
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