Candidates and Relief Road Extension

[Condate]

The 'new road' will make little difference to the traffic congestion in Marple. it may in fact add to it. Don't get your hopes up. You will still be sat in your 45 minute traffic jam to the M60.

The answer is decidedly not more tarmac but less cars. If there is an answer to vehicular traffic and all its implications, then it is in public transport, our rush hour mentality, obsessions with our cars  and our journeys to work. Also our civic leaders and transport planners continue to be reactive, visionless and have no spirit of adventure and consider traffic congestion to be a part of life today, as indeed it has come to be.

The problem is that public transport will never be good enough to make it worth using for much. I was 36 before I had a car and went everywhere by public transport. It was only when I got a car (of necessity, as the rail service I relied on was withdrawn in 1994) that I realised just how much I'd been missing. I was amazed at how many places I could get to where no public transport could take me (or when it could, it took a ludicrous time to get there). Once you have a car, it's very hard to go back to public transport which even when well funded and extensive, is never anywhere near as good and will never go to anywhere near the majority of places I want to go at the times I want to get there.

[Melancholyflower]

The 'new road' will make little difference to the traffic congestion in Marple. it may in fact add to it. Don't get your hopes up. You will still be sat in your 45 minute traffic jam to the M60.

The answer is decidedly not more tarmac but less cars. If there is an answer to vehicular traffic and all its implications, then it is in public transport, our rush hour mentality, obsessions with our cars  and our journeys to work. Also our civic leaders and transport planners continue to be reactive, visionless and have no spirit of adventure and consider traffic congestion to be a part of life today, as indeed it has come to be.

I'd have to agree with this point above all others that have been made.

Certainly the traffic in and around Marple is atrocious, but a new road will only add to that traffic in the long run. Experience shows that eventually they just fill up.
I am a firm believer that rush hour traffic can - and should - be reduced by lateral problem solving, education and cultural change, and not by the building of more roads. 

I used to work in Spinningfields, Manchester and commuted by train from Marple. I could easily have done that job from home, but had to take 2 hours out of my day to be present in an office. A waste of time, money, and energy. And significantly, someone else I know who lives a few streets away commutes to Spinningfields by car because he doesn't like the trains.

One obvious solution would be, where possible, office workers and clerical staff work from home. At the moment all they do is travel to an office and use a computer that is connected to a network - something they can easily do from home. No travel, no congestion, less money, everyone wins - employers, employees, environment etc.  Obviously this isn't suitable for every single situation, but there are many many jobs that can be managed in this way.

Other ideas could be a hierarchy system whereby those who need car transport the most are given priority over more casual drivers in rush hour. How would this be managed? Not sure yet, but the idea is surely worthy of consideration.

[Dave]

The answer is decidedly not more tarmac but less cars. If there is an answer to vehicular traffic and all its implications, then it is in public transport,

I don't think it's either/or - we need both tarmac, sadly, and also better public transport.  But train and bus services, however, good, will never completely replace cars.

You will still be sat in your 45 minute traffic jam to the M60.

I don't think so.  For example, I go to Leeds every week or two.  I go by train when I can, but sometimes I have to drive.  It doesn't usually take 45 minutes to get through the Bredbury crawl to the M60, but it does take far too long.   

When the relief road is built, I will be able to join it at Marple Road Offerton, and that will save a whole lot of time, even though the Dan Bank crawl will be as bad or worse than ever! 

So I fear simone is right about this:

The 'new road' will make little difference to the traffic congestion in Marple. it may in fact add to it.

Yes, Dan Bank will probably get even worse, but on the other hand, there is likely to be less congestion in Bredbury, and on the A6 at Hazel Grove.

So we need the relief road, but it should go hand in hand with the proposed train or tram link to Stockport, which would help to reduce traffic on Dan Bank and through Offerton:   http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6623.0;attach=1151;image

[simonesaffron]

The 'new road' will make little difference to the traffic congestion in Marple. it may in fact add to it. Don't get your hopes up. You will still be sat in your 45 minute traffic jam to the M60.

The answer is decidedly not more tarmac but less cars. If there is an answer to vehicular traffic and all its implications, then it is in public transport, our rush hour mentality, obsessions with our cars  and our journeys to work. Also our civic leaders and transport planners continue to be reactive, visionless and have no spirit of adventure and consider traffic congestion to be a part of life today, as indeed it has come to be.

[mikes]

The sooner it is built the better.  The roads around here are getting atrocious even outside the normal commuting hours.

[PhilB]

There is a study on going with a protected corridor...   http://www.semmms.info/140683/Task4949_SEMMMS_routes_2

[amazon]

On the basis of past experience surely the new road will just get bunged up and dysfunctional, like the M60 and M34? Particularly as there will be traffic-signal controlled junctions all the way along it from the M56 - an attempt by the planners to discourage traffic from diverting from the motorways. If another new road becomes necessary to relieve the relief road, where's that going to go? I urge everyone to take a look at the Goyt  and Poise Brook Valleys to see what will be lost if the relief road is allowed to go all the way to the M60. There's a short walk through the valleys next Sunday, May 8 starting at 2.30 from the gates of Bredbury Hall, arranged by Goyt Valley SOS.

 
A lot of the work has allready been done in the goyt valley .its only a matter of time .and of coarse money .walks dont take priority over roads

[tonyjones]

A map published in the Messenger for October 6th 1989 shows the junction in Hazel Grove and the road going directly to the Brinnington roundabout. there is mention of a proposed Stepping Hill link.
The leaflet from late 2003 shows junctions on Offerton Road (Torkington Road), Bean Leech Road/Stepping Hill link, and Marple Road.

[simonesaffron]

Also, the point on 'more new tarmac'. Other than the M63 (now the M60) Cheadle -> Denton route which must be coming up to its 30th birthday soonish, maybe I'm wrong but I can't remember any new arterial roads being built in East Stockport. It's hardly as if our area has seen a continual road building / congestion cycle is it?

Is that a source of regret to you Henry?

Do you like tarmac?

[the rover]

If my memory serves me right, I think there was a junction to this new road proposed near to Fog Brook (?) in Offerton, am I correct?

[Mr Brock]

On the basis of past experience surely the new road will just get bunged up and dysfunctional, like the M60 and M34? Particularly as there will be traffic-signal controlled junctions all the way along it from the M56 - an attempt by the planners to discourage traffic from diverting from the motorways. If another new road becomes necessary to relieve the relief road, where's that going to go? I urge everyone to take a look at the Goyt  and Poise Brook Valleys to see what will be lost if the relief road is allowed to go all the way to the M60. There's a short walk through the valleys next Sunday, May 8 starting at 2.30 from the gates of Bredbury Hall, arranged by Goyt Valley SOS.

[HWL1973]

Also, the point on 'more new tarmac'. Other than the M63 (now the M60) Cheadle -> Denton route which must be coming up to its 30th birthday soonish, maybe I'm wrong but I can't remember any new arterial roads being built in East Stockport. It's hardly as if our area has seen a continual road building / congestion cycle is it?

[Condate]

Personally the new SEMMS - A6MARR road is going to be an absolute godsend. But a whole load of extra congestion through Hawk Green / High Lane / 'Torky bends' can surely be anticipated.

The issue of congestion around our locality is not a new one, it's been around for decades, and it's markedly worse than in equivalent commuter areas. In my working life I have encountered many people who have lived in our area in the past, and the first thing they mention (without exception) is the traffic. Marple has a reputation far and wide for it. I can only think of areas around London, and Glossop, which are equally as bad.

It is quite normal to take 45 minutes to reach the M60 on a weekday morning, via any of the routes. This is totally unacceptable in terms of the effect on the economy and on air quality. Public transport is only a viable alternative for commuters who work in Manchester city centre, for whom it is great. Otherwise it simply takes too long. For those of us who have to endure wasting several hours a week stuck in Offerton or Bredbury crawling to the motorway a Bredbury -> airport link has been needed for ages. Despite the inevitable obfuscation, the solution in this instance is one of more tarmac.

Agreed. This has been needed for a long time and for most of the people who would benefit from the new road, public transport is not a viable option.

[HWL1973]

Personally the new SEMMS - A6MARR road is going to be an absolute godsend. But a whole load of extra congestion through Hawk Green / High Lane / 'Torky bends' can surely be anticipated.

The issue of congestion around our locality is not a new one, it's been around for decades, and it's markedly worse than in equivalent commuter areas. In my working life I have encountered many people who have lived in our area in the past, and the first thing they mention (without exception) is the traffic. Marple has a reputation far and wide for it. I can only think of areas around London, and Glossop, which are equally as bad.

It is quite normal to take 45 minutes to reach the M60 on a weekday morning, via any of the routes. This is totally unacceptable in terms of the effect on the economy and on air quality. Public transport is only a viable alternative for commuters who work in Manchester city centre, for whom it is great. Otherwise it simply takes too long. For those of us who have to endure wasting several hours a week stuck in Offerton or Bredbury crawling to the motorway a Bredbury -> airport link has been needed for ages. Despite the inevitable obfuscation, the solution in this instance is one of more tarmac.

[Dave]

since most of this road is built its probably sensible to finish it off. I think that the current end point on the A6 near Hazel Grove is going to cause too many problems if left.

We need proper investment in the rail system, cycling etc.

Words of wisdom from hatter.