
Motorists have been facing long delays heading out of Wilmslow towards the M56 for weeks whilst work is being carried out at the World Logistics Hub.
Many of whom have complained that the setting of the temporary traffic lights is wrong as there are no queues heading in the other direction.
Paul Wadsworth told wilmslow.co.uk "In the morning the traffic is backed up to Texaco all the way to Airport City turning. These lights are manned but it seems they aren't running long enough to allow traffic to flow as once through the lights there is no jams to the M56."
Mr Wadsworth contacted UDP (Utilities Design & Planning Ltd).
Dave Hilton, Director at UDP, said "Sorry about your delays – unfortunately the timings are legally pre-set into temporary light systems – we have it set on the legal minimum time for the turn into Amazon – however, our priority is to prevent any traffic building up off the motorway slip roads heading towards Wilmslow, this necessitates us preventing the right turn into Amazon blocking the Wilmslow bound lane (hence the operative on site), and this does unfortunately cause a build up heading towards the motorway."
Mr Hilton added "Hopefully the works should be finished by the end of the year and the new junction lay-out will be set to prevent the delays."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Ha Ha Ha ...look on the bright side folks....only another three months to go.
Even Alan Ayckbourn couldn't write this stuff.
Why not do away with the right turn into Airport City altogether and let all the traffic go through the tunnels......around the roundabout ....then back up through the tunnels to make a left turn into Airport City ?
I'm sure there is an excellent reason why you have decided not to do this and have all the traffic queuing back to Wilmslow.
The "World Logistics Hub" (post centre) is a fine exhibit of planning at its worst and should be a textbook example of how not to plan access to a site. The access should be via the westbound slip road of the M56 with an entry from the site for westbound traffic. Eastbound traffic exiting as now onto a slip road. This was far too simple and a fine example of how GMC operates. The site was green belt now gone forever due entirely to the greed of GMC and Manchester Airport (almost bottom in recent surveys of international and UK airports - it is a disgusting gateway to the country).
I recognize the need to "encourage" people to depend less on car use but while 'bus services are cut - or terminated - and trains are inadequate, especially if everyone had to rely on rail transport, there is no alternative.
I also remember an excuser from Man Airport in the mid-'90s telling us that improvements - especially the construction of the 2nd runway and its tunnel - would benefit Wilmslow and the surrounding areas.
Really? Extra traffic passing through to the airport? Or is it all those thousands who fly into little old Ringway to sample the delights on offer at the Revolution in Wilmslow or to go shopping at all the charity shops occupying the Knightsbridge of the North?
The current problem is wholly and solely attributable to the lack of infrastructure planning around the commencement of Amazon and DHL operations at Airport City.
What Mr Hilton doesn't tell us is how will the new junction be structured and, given the imperative to keep traffic moving off the motorway slip roads and an increasing volume of vehicle movements in / out of Airport City, what will happen to improve the outlook for long-suffering motorists travelling through Wilmslow to the M56?
How on earth do the developers get away with failing to provide the infrastructure before they start to build?
It should be a prerequisite which should be adhered to before the construction work begins
Cheshire East is letting us down badly if it fails to enforce this
This inevitably caused long tailbacks and flaring of tempers when they because stuck at the hotel. And they’re not the only ones at it this week - coaches, HGVs etc as well. Makes you wonder what it could be like once they start breaking ground for the new housing development.
What happened to it? The Airport managed to get it extinguished when they expanded their territory to build the second runway.....
30 weeks to pain a tunnel and change some light fittings? A year to build a bit of road past a well planned industrial park? Comical, although having never seen anyone actually working at these locations it's hardly surprising.
Our council is as incompetent as it is corrupt and treats it's residents with distain.
Dave Hilton, you don't deserve to keep your job.