NW Warrington Transport Proposals
Warrington Cycle Campaign Response
Contents
Public Transport
Bus Lane: on Winwick Road
We strongly support this proposal.
A bus lane on Winwick Road would make riding between junctions much less intimidating.
We would also like to see a similar treatment on the north-bound carriageway.
Bus priority is essential if the Winwick park-and-ride scheme is to be well used.
Bus Gate: Cromwell Avenue / Longshaw Street
This would be a helpful measure.
Longshaw Street is one of the most popular cycle routes in Warrington
and this would extend the route to serve the Gemini area.
Public Transport Interchange: Urban Village
This is a key component of the urban village.
The design should prioritise the needs of cyclists and include
secure long-stay cycle storage facilities.
Road Closures
Burtonwood Road
We are very much in favour of the proposal to close Burtonwood Road.
Traffic from junction 8 would otherwise make Burtonwood Road and Hood Manor intolerable.
When closed, Burtonwood Road will form part of an excellent cycle route to Sankey Bridges.
Traffic Calming
Kingswood Road, Kingsdale Road (or maybe closure)
Any traffic calming should adopt cycle friendly designs
and avoid using horizontal deflections.
If Kingsdale Road is to be closed then a cycle gap should be provided.
Gateways / Entry Features
Lingley Green Ave, Kingsdale Road, Callands Road
If the aim were to prevent through traffic from junction 8
using Lingley Green Ave then we would suggest an entry feature
incorporating a statue of King Canute!
To effectively deter people from using it treatment such as centre hatching
and junction modification will be needed along the whole length of the road.
We welcome the proposal to revise the advanced stop line at the
Lingley Green Avenue/Liverpool Road junction.
Speed Limits
30mph limit proposed for consistency on all distributor roads
We support this proposal, but if actual speeds are to be reduced in practice
then this will require enforcement.
These routes are through built up residential areas,
but the design gives the feel of a rural 'A' road.
Modifying the roundabouts to continental geometry would help to slow down traffic,
as would painting a wide hatched centre line.
Providing pavements and pedestrian crossings would contribute to a more urban feel.
Safer Routes to Schools
We support the implementation of safer routes to schools,
but these are notable by their complete absence from the plan.
If this were treated at all seriously then the schools in the area would be
obvious from the routes radiating from them. If the intention is for the
routes to be identified in school travel plans then it is critical that resources
are available to implement the measures needed to create the safe routes.
Signed Pedestrian Routes
Whittle Hall to Westbrook: Malvern Close - Blackshaw Drive
This route is identified in the LTP as a quiet route for cyclists.
This should also be signed as a cycle route.
A zebra crossing is needed at Westbrook Crescent.
Burtonwood Road to Old Hall
This route could form an interim 'greenway' link in the
main cycle route from the town centre to Burtonwood and Omega.
(In the long term the route will follow the roads through the urban village)
There is also the potential for a similar route -
also suitable for cyclists from Old Hall to Westbrook via Vincent Close and Garwood Close.
These routes all have potential for safe routes to school.
New Footway
Westbrook Way
Given the number of roads without pavements it is astonishing that
this is the only proposal for a new footway shown on the plan,
and that any existing footways appear fair game for sharing with cyclists.
Pavements for the exclusive use of pedestrians should be provided on both
sides of all the roads in the area.
Pedestrian Crossings
15 Uncontrolled Crossings
How can these count as proposals? They are hazards.
Almost all of these appear on the map to give the misleading impression that
disconnected stretches of shared-use pavement somehow represent a cycle route.
Cycling across the entry and exit slip roads of roundabouts is dangerous,
and unprotected crossings at such places should not feature in any cycle facility.
8 Toucan/Puffin Crossings
Of which 6 merely serve to switch the shared-use pavements from one side of
Cromwell Avenue /Whittle Avenue and back again and do not serve pedestrian desire lines.
Some of the crossings serving shared use pavements are identified as puffins,
but should be toucans.
The area is severed by busy distributor roads so pedestrian crossings are
needed at all the places where pedestrian routes cross Lingley Green Ave,
Whittle Ave, Westbrook Crescent or Cromwell Ave (i.e. at all the junctions).
We would like to see greater use made of zebra crossings due to the
greater priority they accord pedestrians, in line with the mode hierarchy of the LTP.
Shared Use Pavements
We were alarmed to see that
our recommendations
for junction treatments
appear to have been ignored and proposals for cyclists seem to consist
entirely of forcing cyclists off the roads onto low quality un-segregated pavements
with unprotected crossings at junctions.
This not only fails to address the problems faced by cyclists riding through the area,
but would create additional hazards.
This goes against national guidance and the council's own cycle and pedestrian strategies.
Although cycle paths alongside roads are often thought of as the 'ideal'
way to improve cycling safety, their safety record in practice is poor,
particularly at junctions.
The limitations of cycle tracks are well documented
(Safety of Vulnerable Road Users, OECD, 1998).
Most severe and fatal crashes take place at junctions and cycle track crossings.
Accidents tend to be more severe in cases where a turning vehicle hits a cyclist.
Cycle tracks make collisions more likely because turning motorists are less likely to
notice cyclists who are not riding on the carriageway.
This problem is more serious still where cyclists are riding in the wrong direction,
as they would be forced to do if a path is only provided on one side of the road.
We strongly urge the council not to implement these proposals.
However, if the council is determined to proceed with this sort of provision,
it is critical that such facilities are designed to much higher standards than
those proposed to minimise the additional danger posed to cyclists and pedestrians using them.
If roadside cycle paths are to be built these should be provided on
both sides of the road and segregated from the footway.
The paths should merge with the carriageway on the approach (30m) to junctions -
By making the road users approaching a junction more
visible to each other and visible earlier,
the risk of unexpected appearance is reduced and safety improved.
A one-way cycle path should be 2m wide (3m for two-way use) in addition to the footway.
Resources need to set aside to ensure that the tracks are swept frequently.
North Park Brook Road
This quiet residential road is ideal for cycling on and
it is hard to imagine a road less in need of treatment.
The shared use path would create hazards where none existed before.
Absurdly, the plan shows the treatment ending at the place where it
would actually start to do some good by providing a link across
Sankey Valley Park to Dallam. What is needed is to resurface the car park,
improve the bridge, remove the gate and provide some lighting.
Cromwell Avenue
A shared use path is proposed for one side only of Cromwell Avenue,
but the path switches sides three times in order to get from one end to the other!
There is no priority at side roads with lethal unprotected crossings at
roundabout slip roads. Also there are unprotected crossings at
Calver Road junction and Peace Centre.
The short link path to the Gemini area would be reached via an
unprotected crossing of Cromwell Avenue itself.
Whittle Avenue
This is similar to the Cromwell Avenue proposal,
but also includes a diversion into and out of the urban village site.
Again, the route switches sides three times.
Omega Development
The location of Omega as an out of town development adjacent to a motorway junction
is bound to generate car-oriented travel patterns.
This is a prime example of the sort of situation where the governments
advice to integrate land-use and transport planning should be followed.
The site should not be developed to the unsustainable travel patterns it will generate.
In any case, the original rationale for Omega as a regionally significant
site for a large single development has failed to materialise,
as there is no demand for such a site.
Public Transport Proposals
All the proposed public transport measures are unlikely to have a significant impact.
Park and Ride
We are opposed to creating park and ride facilities at junction 8.
Any efforts towards park and ride in the area should be directed at
improving the service and use of the facility at junction 9 -
just 3km down the motorway.
The site would be a poor location for a park and ride facility as there
is no direct link with the town-centre and little potential for the
bus priority measures which are an essential component of a successful park and ride scheme.
A park and ride car park would end up providing additional car parking spaces
for the Omega development itself than would be permitted under PPG13 guidelines,
thus would increase car-bourn traffic rather than reduce it.
High Quality Cycle Routes
The best way to achieve high quality cycle routes is to ensure that the roads
themselves are constructed to cycle friendly designs,
by adopting effective cycle audit procedures.
Omissions
Main Route to Town Centre via Old Hall and Bewsey
Given that this is the most important cycle route serving the area by
providing a direct link to the town centre,
it is astonishing that there are no proposals for improving this route.
Junction Treatment at Roundabouts
At present the roundabouts in the area are the main hazard to cyclists.
We are disappointed that there are no recommendations to modify the roundabouts
to a more cycle friendly design (the proposed shared use crossings would actually
make them even less safe).
Modifying roundabouts to continental design,
with smaller diameters and single lane entrances and circulating carriageway,
would not only improve cyclists' safety,
but would also encourage a greater degree of compliance with the 30mph speed limit.
References
1. "Safety of Vulnerable Road Users", OECD, 1998
2. "Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure", Department of Transport / Bicycle Association / Cycling Tourist
Club / Institution of Highways and Transportation, 1995, reprinted 1997
3. "The National Cycle Network, Guidelines and Practical Details", Sustrans, 1997
Links
Updated 17th September 2001
Pete Owens
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