The Alderley Edge bypass will be closed to traffic during the day for 18 days, starting next Wednesday, 20th June.
The closure is part of the work being carried out by National Grid to refurbish two sections of overhead line which run between Daines near Manchester, Macclesfield and Cellarhead near Stoke on Trent.
The bypass will be closed between Wednesday 20th June and Saturday 7th July to allow National Grid to replace wires which are carried on the pylons which span the highway.
The work is part of a £28m project to help ensure that the lines continue to deliver electricity to homes across Cheshire and beyond.
During the work, National Grid will aim to re-open the bypass between 6.30pm and 6.30am each day if it is safe to allow motorists to pass along the road. The planning for the bypass closure has been carried out in conjunction with Cheshire East Council's Highways Department.
Alderley Edge Parish Council were not happy at all with plans to close the Alderley Edge bypass and questioned why this work is not being carried out using safety netting and temporary gantries, allowing the road to remain open.
They felt the closure was unnecessary and allowed National Grid to get away with the cheapest option at the detriment of local businesses and residents.
Having sent "a number of strongly worded emails" councillors Frank Keegan and Nigel Schofield recently met with two officers from Cheshire East Council and four representatives from National Grid.
Speaking at this week's Parish Council meeting, Cllr Frank Keegan said "We wanted them to understand that they were closing the bypass whereas at every other place in the country they put cradles across.
"They explained that if they tried to cradle it would be too close to the power lines to actually work on. It should be 6 metres from the lines but at at least one point they are only 1.3 metres away which is to dangerous to work.
"They need permission from the national planning authority for the utility companies to move the power line and it would take at least two years to get permission.
"We spent about two hours trying to get them to shift but the big stumbling block is the line of pylons and the change in line of the bypass. However, there will be periods where they might be able to open the bypass for the day."
Cllr Keegan added "They are going to loan us about 5 extra speed indicator devices so we can monitor traffic going through in the meantime."
Advance warning signs are in place to warn motorists of possible delays during the work.
William Fenton, Project Manager said: "We will be doing our best to keep traffic flowing during our work which is why we have taken the decision to open the bypass through the evening and the night when possible.
"We would ask people to be patient with us. We'll do everything we can to get our work completed as quickly as possible. We know that the bypass closure will increase traffic on other local roads but we would stress that our work is vital and means that people will be able to continue to rely on having energy at their finger tips whenever they want it."
.A special contact number has been set up for people to ring if they have questions about National Grid's work. The number is 0800 389 7235.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
As for The National Grid only paying £700 (info in previous topic on subject) for this closure is laughable, as is the loan of 5 speed indicators. A more appropriate penalty might have been a set of fixed speed indicators, and raised speed bumps through the centre of town. At least we would have benefited.
Surely they knew 2 years ago that the wires were scheduled to be changed? Again, someone's fault.......
I just can't believe the decision makers on this one are still in a job.
Obviously they are fixed, so permanent. Are you suggesting that you want to be speeding through town, or got the wrong end of he stick?
One at each pedestrian crossing, level with pavement.
Just like when tesco are forced to improve roads etc as part of permission to build, The National Grid should have been given the same treatment.
I just can't believe £700 to the council is all that's required, and in return we get 3 weeks of delays.
Why is it like this today you may ask ? Well some poor truck driver appears to have broken down right on the pelican crossing by the florists. A CPSO it doing her best to direct traffic but with one vehicle at a time getting through for both directions, I guess we can expect an afternoon of chaos.
And on this subject - has anyone noticed the Bypass opening in the evenings or at weekends ? Evening opening was certainly promised and this weekend I saw no evidence of work on the power lines and am sure the Bypass was closed the whole time. So much for the efforts of National Grid.
One benefit for a small group of us is that we don't get the bypass noise for two weeks!
There's plenty of articals on here about speeding in the town since the bypass opened.
As a side note, when does a village become a town? Alderley sure looks like a town to me ;-)
1) The bypass was fully closed in both directions, with orange barriers in 2 locations, and metal security fencing in 2 more. Removing these is a fairly extensive task, and I could be fairly confident there is no likeliehood they will be dismantled on a daily basis.
2) No work was being carried out today, and it was confirmed by an employee that none will be done today. So clearly no element of priority is being accorded to the work. Additionally surely today would be an obvious opportunity to make good on the promise to open the road when possible.
3) There is no sign of any recent activity anywhere near the road itself. There is some indications of work to the south of the road line, but it is at least 200-300m from the road itself.
So how does this stack up with the statements from the people responsible for this monumental shambles?