Chorley Hall Lane to close for bridge inspection

So pleased to hear this !!

With regards to the one way system, when is Craig and the council going to publish the results of the survey that they must have held about this, showing the traffic use in each direction, the pedestrian use of the admittedly narrow footpath, the views of the residents of Chorley Hall Lane and the adjacent housing developments, together with the expected effect on the volume of traffic passing through the village and onto Ryley's Lane (past the 2/3 schools) with the resulting increase in congestion and polution? Will there then be the need for a new roundabout at the junction of London Road and Ryleys Lane to aid increased flow of traffic?

Why does the Council think this is a good idea? It will inevitably speed up traffic in the direction they are allowed to travel on Chorley Hall Lane. It will create an added volume of traffic on an already extremely busy Ryleys Lane, that has three schools on, or adjacent. It will further add to traffic travelling through the village too. How can that be positive?
Is the bridge really that dangerous that other "traffic calming" measures can't be utilised.
This just seems like its pushing a small problem into another location to create a bigger problem.

Hi Graham,

Thank you for your comments. The results of the assessments were published via this website earlier this year and you can follow the links here:

http://bit.ly/2fbtxVx

http://bit.ly/2xwPnx9

Further assessment work will be carried out on Monday and the results of that will be published in due course.

The proposal is then to launch a formal public consultation before the end of October.

Kind regards,
Craig

Hi Craig,

Many thanks for the update.

May I ask what time of the day the traffic assessments were conducted? Although the numbers up and down CHL are similar, one of my concerns would be the amount of traffic diverted at school drop off and pick up times. Was a time of day study undertaken? Apologies if I missed this detail but I think it's critical to the viability of the proposal.

I also believe the creation of one way traffic will increase speeds over a blind bridge into the village. Despite the pavement being narrow, I understand there have been no reported accidents on the bridge? On the contrary, the relationship between increased speed (over the bridge) and traffic (through the village) and accidents is well documented.

I hope we are not addressing a small issue to only create real problems elsewhere.

May I take this opportunity to thank you and the Parish Council for your hard work and transparency. I hope miserable gits like me aren't grinding you down!

Hi Giles,

Thanks for your question.

The assessment was done electronically and covered 24/7 for a period of one week. If you would like to drop me an email (), I can send you the charts illustrating the exact details of which hours recorded the heaviest volumes of traffic, as well as the numbers of each classification of vehicle (unfortunately it is not possible to attach the data via this forum).

Could I also add that the creation of the additional on-street parking spaces (on the redundant carriageway) will have the impact of reducing the width of the driveable road surface and that this in itself is expected to result in reduced vehicle speeds. I would also say that, unlike laying tarmac over green spaces (for example, allotment, parkland or sports field) the materials proposed mean that this project will be reversible, should it not work out.

Many thanks, again, for your comment.

Kind regards,
Craig

Hi Craig. Sorry I missed the results of the small survey, but note that nearly all the comments support my view about Ryleys Lane. Given the effect on London Road, polution etc I know that you say that my proposed alternative of traffic lights on the bridge is too expensive (you quote £100,000) but if Cheshire West can afford to do it I am sure that Cheshire East can. What will be the cost of implementing your proposal, and how much revenue will be generated from the developers when the proposed house building goes ahead in the village?

P.S. I forgot to mention that it was interesting to note that the survey was carried out after the schools had broken up for the Summer and hence does not give a true representation of the traffic flow on Chorley Hall Lane - no parents taking their children to and from school, and others away from the village having started their holidays. A representative survey? I don't think so

Hi Graeme,

The survey/assessment was carried out between 22nd - 29th March, whereas Easter Sunday was 16th April.

I have checked back to look at the holiday dates for our local schools, which were as follows:

AECPS - 1st to 17th April
AES4G - 5th to 23rd April
Ryleys - 1st to 17th April

The assessment dates were carefully chosen to coincide with the schools being in, in order to ensure a representative survey.

Kind regards,
Craig

Sorry Craig. I don't know where I got that date from!

Craig,
I appreciate the work you put in on these issues. I note you say that "just under 100 residents replied to the survey". That was in an article on this website on 7 March 2017. I don't think the survey can therefore have been carried out on the dates you state above i.e. "The survey/assessment was carried out between 22nd - 29th March, whereas Easter Sunday was 16th April". Have I misunderstood please?

I wasn't aware there was a survey, who was asked to reply please?

Surely less than 100 people (0.02% of the Alderley Edge population) is not representative. Only 0.01% of the population (61% of the survey) thought a one way system was a solution to the problem. Therefore 99.99% were either against that solution, or didn't have an opinion / were not asked.

Finally you say that the measures are reversible. I think it will be very difficult to remove "the new on street car spaces" from Chorley Hall Lane once they are in position. Can you imagine the comments once the headline "X number of car spaces to be scraped"
There are only two streets allowing East - West travel in Alderley Edge, Chorley Hall Lane and Ryleys Lane. Making one of them one way, is surely not the solution to this problem.

Hi Russell,

Thanks for your comments.

Just to clarify, in early February I door-knocked every resident of Chorley Hall Lane and gave them a letter which included a link to an online survey. It is the results of this survey that were published on 7th March.

The residents survey was followed up with a traffic survey, which was carried out by CE Highways between 22nd - 29th March. The results of this survey were published in early April.

So, there were in fact two surveys. I hope this helps to clear up any confusion.

Best regards,
Craig

Why are people queuing up to (wrongly) discredit Craig's hard work? Graeme making up dates, and Russell claiming the Alderley Edge population at 500,000 people. Knocking someone else's efforts and getting the basics wrong is somewhat counter productive. He has enough to do without having to check your "facts" as well as his own. (All meant in good humour!!)

I am not discrediting Craig's hard work. I didn't understand the survey dates, now clarified, thanks. Population of Alderley quoted as 4,638 so 61 people who thought one way was a solution (it was slightly less but no exact number provided) is 1.31% not 0.01% as I incorrectly stated. More maths homework required, genuine mistake.

So just less than 99% of the Alderley Edge population were either against that solution, or didn't have an opinion / were not asked.

As the proposal impacts the whole of Alderley Edge I thought perhaps a wider survey would have been more appropriate. I appreciate it shouldn't be left to Craig to deliver surveys to the whole of Alderley Edge.

Hi Russell & Stewart,

Thanks both for your contributions to the discussion.

I set up the initial survey, because I wanted to establish whether there was any support for the proposal from the residents who would be most affected (i.e. those living on Chorley Hall Lane & Greenlands Walk). The stats were roughly 60% in favour, 30% against and 10% undecided. Had there not been a majority view in favour, then I would not have sought to progress the scheme any further; but as there was, then I felt a responsibility to do so.

I wholly accept that residents in other streets/parts of the village may be impacted upon, but the plan has always been that these residents would have an opportunity to have their say during the formal consultation, which CE Highways expect to carry out in late October or early November. I always try to act in the best interests of as many residents as possible, albeit with the extremely limited resources made available to me by CEC.

Best regards,
Craig

Sorry but this is sheer lunacy. And not just a local issue. Everyone uses Chorley Hall Lane to avoid the congestion on London Road. Make CEC cough up for bridge strengthening. They are having to comply with EU edicts regarding weights on all UK roads - ie Adlington Road has a similar bridge situation and CEC are paying to alter that quoting this EU directive at residents as an excuse for allowing overweight trucks for the development over it for evermore. And leave more one way systeming well off the agenda.

I also believe that it's ridiculous to even consider making a section of such an important road one-way, and all it will achieve is a significant increase in the congestion on London Road and Ryleys Lane. I live in Nether Alderley and use Chorley Hall Lane at least twice a day, and I have never had a problem using the bridge in question...if 2 cars want to cross the bridge, or if there are pedestrians using the bridge, you simply wait your turn. It might mean delaying your journey by 30 seconds, but this is not a big deal. I agree with Kathryn too, if there is a fundamental problem with the bridge, get it widened. But do not implement the folly of an idea, which a one-way system would be.

Perhaps the solution would be to install a road sign which gives priority to oncoming traffic from one or other side (as they have near Wilmslow station) thus negating the idea for a new one way system. A bit of paint on the road and a new road sign must be slightly less prohibitive cost wise and it has the added bonus of forcing traffic to slow down. Ref: parking I had thought that the residents permit scheme within the village was going to be revisited/ reviewed as during the day there are yards and yards of empty spaces and the odd car with no permit who chances it. I grant you that there might be a slight fall in revenue for Cheshire East parking as tickets go down. Perhaps making it "Residents Only" at night when many working residents return to their homes would have been the obvious solution to the previous Parish Council.