The vision certainly has a simplistic elegance and I’m glad they’ve put it out there, if only to make any push from Stockport MBC to widen junctions or add more traffic lights look utterly ridiculous.
Although people complain about queues through Poynton, it has absolutely transformed that village space from a “road” to a defined “place”. That could psychologically divert some traffic itself from considering this just a through-route to race through.
It’s clear the short gap and short timing between the Hibbert Ln/Hollins Ln lights isn’t working these days. Two mini roundabouts wouldn’t magically make the traffic go away either, but could make it flow more continuously. It should definitely be looked into. It’d also remove the bizarre slalom by the swimming pool where you have to swerve across the road into parked cars after crossing the junction!
One thing I’ve disliked about Poynton as a pedestrian is the “free for all” of crossing the road. You’re meant to be able to step out wherever, which is a noble idea, but still scary in reality. This Marple idea looks better, then, that the crossing points are still very defined. But would the main Market Street crossing really work with people crossing continuously, not by lights? Even as someone who wants to see the balance addressed, we still need to allow for some movement of vehicles...
Likewise, in the larger version of the image are they seriously suggesting a bus stop in the carriageway? A lay-by is still surely required by the Hollins shops, though hopefully not as large as the current one, which is often just mostly taken up by lazy folk in private cars. (Why is this never policed?)
In fact, since the road is pretty much three lanes wide here, why not also finally provide a lay-by on the Trinity Street side with the stops staggered to use the available space? It’s the buses having to block the road as much as anything which make that area a nightmare.
Good first step though...
