Poynton

Poynton is a town on the A523 route between Hazel Grove and Macclesfield. The town centre is focused on a congested junction between the A523 and A5149. Until 2011 this was a signalised crossroads which caused significant delays at peak times.

History

Poynton was not on the route between Stockport and Macclesfield until a new turnpike road was created in 1762, roughly along the line of what is now the A523 from Hazel Grove (then known as Bullock Smithy).

Shared Space

Before

After

The primary A523 was considered by many to be cutting the town in half with many residents finding it difficult to cross, alongside with issues with noise and pollition. It was decided that the junction and it's surrounding roads would be converted into a Shared Space. While shared spaces were not a new concept, this was the first time that it had been tried on what was at the time, a primary through route.

It was completed in two phases, the first phase was converting Park Lane (the minor road off the junction) into a shared space, this was completed in 2011 with the second phase starting shortly after.

It is generally considered to be a success by local residents, while there is still traffic congestion, average speeds have dropped yet motorists are able to traverse the town quicker. Most of the empty shop units have now been re-let and local traders have reported a significant increase in footfall.

In 2014 the town centre won the Urban Transport Street Design Award, however for a large chunk of the summer holidays there were temporary traffic lights controlling the shared space junction while remedial works to the surface were carried out, bringing significant congestion back to the town.

Bypass

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While the A555 SEMMMS route was built to the north of Poynton, it didn't have significant impact on traffic in the town. However, more recently, a bypass to the west of the town is was built to link the A523 to the recently constructed A555, joining at Chester Road Junction.

The map on the left shows the proposed route of the Poynton bypass on OSM.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A523	Stockport, Manchester
A523	Macclesfield
A5149	Woodford	Formerly B5092
B5092	Woodford	Now A5149