Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
User avatar
Graham
Moderator
Posts: 6489
Joined: 14 Dec 2006, 8:48pm

Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Post by Graham »

Email from Wesley wrote:Please inform all readers that the latest information on the reopening
of. Church Lane Bucklow Hill will be the 21. January.
I have been in regular contact with the main contractor for months and this
week I was told this is the date the are aiming for.


Not able to post for himself, but thanks for the information.

I know nothing about this.
eileithyia
Posts: 8399
Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 6:46pm
Location: Horwich Which is Lancs :-)

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by eileithyia »

About time, especially as the parallel alternative is permanently closed by the new road, shame no one forward planned and kept a cyclist's alternative route open.
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by drossall »

Curiosity only, but what's the latest upgrade? This is the A556?

I think it was at the Chapel Lane/A556 lights that, as a teenager decades ago, I discovered the phenomenon of lights that don't notice bikes.
eileithyia
Posts: 8399
Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 6:46pm
Location: Horwich Which is Lancs :-)

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by eileithyia »

There's a new road being put in to bypass the current A556, http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a ... provement/
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by drossall »

I was going to ask if that meant we could have the J37 back, but that (if I've remember my numbers right) was south of the M6. I did a lot of my early time trialling on that road :D

And they put lights at Lostock Gralam that rather ruined it anyway :(

I'm up for a wedding in Lower Peover in April. Maybe I'll have a look.
walterwesley
Posts: 8
Joined: 6 Jun 2016, 8:19pm

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by walterwesley »

This morning I received an up date on Church Lane reopening.
Resurfacing work now taking place on 21st so I will attempt to keep our members informed of
any progress.
Wes Brown.
walterwesley
Posts: 8
Joined: 6 Jun 2016, 8:19pm

Bucklow Hill (A556) Bye Pass.

Post by walterwesley »

Hello again, I have just received the latest up to date information from the main contractor on the
Bucklow Hill Bye Pass The A556.
It will finally reopen on the 1st of February, next Wednesday.
Wes Brown.
eileithyia
Posts: 8399
Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 6:46pm
Location: Horwich Which is Lancs :-)

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by eileithyia »

Thanks did not get chance to post yesterday but as we discovered... still not open
PS It's Chapel Lane.
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
blackbike
Posts: 2492
Joined: 11 Jul 2009, 3:21pm

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by blackbike »

eileithyia wrote:About time, especially as the parallel alternative is permanently closed by the new road, shame no one forward planned and kept a cyclist's alternative route open.


If only it was a parallel route. It is one side of a triangle and the closure means a longer way round on the other two sides.
eileithyia
Posts: 8399
Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 6:46pm
Location: Horwich Which is Lancs :-)

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by eileithyia »

blackbike wrote:
eileithyia wrote:About time, especially as the parallel alternative is permanently closed by the new road, shame no one forward planned and kept a cyclist's alternative route open.


If only it was a parallel route. It is one side of a triangle and the closure means a longer way round on the other two sides.


Ok so I agree not strictly a parallel route but Bucklow Hill Lane kept open until all work on Chapel Lane was completed, would save having to take to the A50 :lol:
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
blackbike
Posts: 2492
Joined: 11 Jul 2009, 3:21pm

Re: Church Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening Jan 21st

Post by blackbike »

eileithyia wrote:
blackbike wrote:
eileithyia wrote:About time, especially as the parallel alternative is permanently closed by the new road, shame no one forward planned and kept a cyclist's alternative route open.


If only it was a parallel route. It is one side of a triangle and the closure means a longer way round on the other two sides.


Ok so I agree not strictly a parallel route but Bucklow Hill Lane kept open until all work on Chapel Lane was completed, would save having to take to the A50 :lol:


It has all been a bit of an inconvenience, and the permanent closure of a country lane is not good.

It reminds me of the building of the second runway at the airport about 20 years ago which also created a few new cui-de-sacs on rural lanes.

Hopefully the old A556 will become a nice country lane, or at least a road which a cyclist without suicidal tendencies can use safely.
Pete Owens
Posts: 2442
Joined: 7 Jul 2008, 12:52am

Re: Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Post by Pete Owens »

At least they are now building a bridge over Chapel Lane. When I went to the original consultation several years ago, the plan was to close it permanently - with the only crossing being at a new junction a couple of km to the north. I pointed out that the road was part of the Cheshire Cycleway and currently the only realistic crossing point for cyclists heading east-west, so maybe they actually listened.

To those unfamiliar with this scheme - the basic idea is fully justified. The A556 currently acts a part of the M6/M56 junction thus takes pretty much all the Manchester-Birmingham traffic on a horrible single carriageway road with four narrow lanes. What they should really have done is build a short motorway link a few km west which would only connect with the Motorways and remove virtually all the traffic from the current road - which could be downgraded to a country lane (or "upgraded" from a cycling POV). This would mean that the road could be used by cyclists heading between Tabley and Altrincham.

Unfortunately, what they are doing is building a motorway-in-all-but name - which uses the existing alignment of the A556 on the northern part and converting the rest of the road to a high specification B road, which will still be unatractive to cyclists - though vastly better than the existing arrangement. From the Highways Agency perspective they saw zero demand for cycling along the route because the the current zero useage (without it occurring to them that the horrible conditions are the reason) so no point in making the route attractive for cyclists.
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Post by drossall »

Although surely traffic on the A556, had they built the motorway link, would not be different from what it will be on the new B road?
MikeF
Posts: 4339
Joined: 11 Nov 2012, 9:24am
Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Post by MikeF »

Are Highways England following their guidelines?http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ha/standards/ians/pdfs/ian195.pdf :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
xerxes
Posts: 142
Joined: 10 May 2013, 7:22pm

Re: Chapel Lane, Bucklow Hill reopening 1st Feb ( updated )

Post by xerxes »

Pete Owens wrote:Unfortunately, what they are doing is building a motorway-in-all-but name - which uses the existing alignment of the A556 on the northern part and converting the rest of the road to a high specification B road, which will still be unatractive to cyclists

Well, now that the new road has been open for a year, there is so little traffic on the B road that it is fine for cyclists. Additionally, what they have done is convert part of the old road into a cycleway. A total waste of money and resources.

I commuted for 30 years between Altrincham & Knutsford. Riding along the A556 was unpleasant, some might say nightmarish, and I would only use it as a last resort if my preferred route through the lanes of Ashley & Mobberley was likely to be iced up. A dedicated cycle lane would certainly have been useful in those days - but they only build one now when it is no longer needed. Who makes these decisions?
Post Reply