Some local residents are extremely disappointed that work to reinstate the speed bumps on their road did not go ahead as planned.
People living on Oak Lane received a letter on August 12th stating that traffic calming measures would be reinstated that week and they were asked to ensure that no cars were left blocking the road.
Dr Richard Parris said "We presumed this was eventually in response to the consultation that took place AFTER the removal of the traffic calming measures almost two years ago - we cannot be sure because despite contacting the Council we have never been told the results of the consultation and why the measures were removed in the first place."
However, the work has not taken place and when Dr Parris contacted the Highways Department he was informed that the works were due to take place after the consultation showed a majority of residents in favour of the traffic calming measures but someone had objected to the reinstatement after the letter was received.
Dr Parris added "This is extremely frustrating as there has undoubtedly been a marked increase in traffic speeding in the area and our children and ourselves have had a number of near misses.
"As residents we feel a little disempowered and removed from the Council decision making process and are of course extremely concerned that road safety and the safety of our children is not apparently as valued as that of the convenience of motorists. This seems to be in contrast to the welcome reduction of speed limits on Altrincham Road (which ironically is well away from local schools and shops).
"Whilst there may be a reasonable explanation for their actions, it is extremely disappointing that residents out of professional courtesy have not been informed of the reasons for their intervention. We feely totally disempowered."
The speed bumps were removed prior to the resurfacing of Oak Lane in October 2012, much to the annoyance of some local residents who were not informed about their removal beforehand.
Afterwards, residents were sent a consultation questionnaire, asking if they would like the speed humps to be reinstated or removed completely.
Speaking at the time Councillor Rod Menlove said: "It is the normal working method to remove all traffic calming features before any re-surfacing work is to take place.
"The humps were initially installed over 10 years ago by the former Cheshire County Council as an environmental traffic calming feature, and not as a result of collisions occurring on the road."
We are waiting for a response from Cheshire East Council as to why the speed bumps were not re-instated last month and whether they plan to do the work in the near future.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
We also had no luck finding out what the councils plans are.
Perhaps some other form of calming could be proposed (chicanes?) which don't cause vibrations or impede surface water drainage.
Why not go the whole way and get someone to wave a red flag in front of cars too? That would make it incredibly safe. My experience is that once introduced, the 20mph campaigners will then want all local traffic banned, which is their ultimate goal.
BTW stairs kill 1,000 people a year in the UK. Perhaps we should campaign for everyone to live in bungalows too?
Alternatively, we accept that life is inherently risky and we cannot eliminate it from our lives. The 30mph limit on this road seems to be appropriate to me. There have been no accidents since the humps were removed and the humps were not installed because of accidents either. Therefore, the council are right not to spend our money reintroducing them onto this road.
Instead, it has enough to do to fill in all the pot holes on our roads that can easily cause accidents and death to cyclists.
And I will never look at a stair case in the same way again. I half expect a staircase to jump out from behind a bush with a knife one dark evening! I would also suggest the cause of pollution is an interesting point but maybe one to be discussed in the Pollution article on the other website. Elimination of risk is very difficult but where a reasonable reduction of risk can be introduced, well that's a good thing isn't it? Pot holes. I am with you on that plight but let's go for 'as well' rather than 'instead'
Let's not wait for an accident to prove a point. Let's assess the likelihood and impact and make intelligent preventative action.
These humps also inflict dangerous damage to the inside walls of tyres, damage which is not readily visible and which could lead to horrific accidents if the tyre subsequently fails at speed on a motorway. And of course the point made above about vehicles braking for the humps (except the 4x4s of course) and then accellerating to the next one causes excessive pollution and noise.
All of this doesn't mean the road should not have calming measures - simply that road humps are not only largely ineffective, but they have a lot of unintended consequences. Chicanes, non-typical road surfaces such as stone setts, and other more imaginative ways to slow traffic should be employed.
The previous speed bumps were poorly maintained and had lost their markings which may have meant they were less of a visual deterrent.
The real issue is why were they removed 2 years ago without any consultation? The resurfacing on Hawthorn Lane took place at a similar time and the speed bumps there were automatically replaced as part of the work. Why?
When the residents queried this we were sent a questionnaire which we have been led to believe came out in favour of re-instatement of the original speed bumps.
It has now taken 2 years for the council to get ready to put them back (letters went out informing residents, markings were put on the road indicating where the speed bumps would be relocated, etc.) and is very frustrating to have this work cancelled with no reason given.