Latest plan for Broken Cross Junction
As part of the developments on Chelford Road, a condition was imposed that the Broken Cross junction should be modified prior to any residential occupation.
Condition:
Prior to the first occupation of any dwelling built as a result of the development hereby permitted; the Broken Cross highway improvements as shown on plan reference 1916-F04 Revision B shall be carried out to the full written satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.
Reason:
To ensure the highway impact of the development is mitigated against.
Henbury Parish Council approached Cheshire East Highways to see sight of the proposed layout, andhave identified 28 areas of concern to which they requested a response from Highways:
1. How will wheelchair users and pushchairs access the zebra crossing on Gawsworth Road on the north side, assuming they have come from Chelford Road? It appears impossible to access the zebra because of the cobble shown in the attached picture, how will this be resolved as these cobbles are owned by the houses?
2. The pavement approaching the zebra crossing on Gawsworth Road from east is not wide enough to access the zebra crossing without going in the road. How will this be addressed please? On both points 1 & 2 a wheelchair user has tried the route, and was unable to carry out either of these actions without going in the road.
3. No mention of signage is shown for vehicles exiting Princes Way and turning left straight `onto a zebra, how will you protect pedestrians?
4. No mention is made of the crossing on Pexhill Road, which was a condition of outline permission.
5. The eastbound bus stop on Chelford Road moves from outside the paint shop to outside the petrol station. As the stop is popular, and many passengers board and alight here, how will the plan stop the junction from being completely blocked, as traffic follows the bus and builds up behind and across the junction?
6. What health implications have been considered for passengers standing by the petrol station awaiting the bus i.e. breathing in the fumes?
7. Where has the westbound bus stop, which is currently on Broken Cross outside the funeral parlour, been relocated to?
8. How will the entrance to Tesco Express car park be managed? What happens when the car park is full and there is a queue as shown in the attached images? Currently this queue blocks thewhole junction.
9. The Tesco Express car park should be looped according to .GOV. What provision has been made for articulated delivery vehicles to reverse in from Gawsworth Road?
10. The Tesco Express car park flow was not considered in the outline application, has this now been addressed?
11. How is the large camber on the road called Broken Cross going to be addressed, without making the pedestrian crossings too steep for manual wheelchair users?
12. On the large car track image on the plan, how will a vehicle leaving the Bellway estate turning right, avoid conflict with vehicles if there is a bus at both stops, with traffic over-taking both buses, and turning into the Bellway site?
13. What pedestrian protection measure will be put in place for pedestrians using the new 1.8 metre crossing to the west of The Cock Inn? i.e if there is a bus at the stop travelling east, how will you stop cars over-taking at speed and crashing into the pedestrian island? Is 1.8 metres wide enough for pram and pusher?
14. What will prevent a pile up if a bus is stopped at The Cock Inn travelling west, and vehicles overtake signalling right, and then turn right into the Bellway site without brake lights showing, If the following vehicle is travelling too fast, and doesn't realise the action?
15. Has the Cock Inn car park been considered?
16. What pedestrian protection is in place for the new crossing to the east of Whirley Road?
17. It appears that pavement is being taken from Chelford Road on the corner of Fallibroome Road to make the junction wider. However, this was narrowed recently due to safety, what has changed?
18. What mitigation is there to reduce the pollution on tube CE91 on Broken Cross, assuming there will be more stationary traffic, and the diesel emissions from buses are nearer to the tube?
19. There is no mention of the link road roundabout to the west of the Broken Cross and east of the Bellway site, and how this affects flow. This was considered in the outline application, but no mention here.
20. The size of the roundabout for the link road does not appear to be large enough for HGVs and buses to navigate, in fact far smaller than the roundabout at the south exit. This is concerning, as it accesses employment land. Also, you have given permission for on street parking on the link road, so is it a link road or not?
21. Chelford Road between the Pack Horse and the paint shop is between 10 and 11 metres wide. This appears to be less than the required width for three lanes according to .GOV.
22. Please can we ask you to share the data that was used for the calculations, which shows this will improve traffic flow including dates and times of surveys.
23. The Local Plan Inspector states that the Broken Cross plan should include third party land to make these changes successful, but the drawings do not include any third-party land. Why is that please?
24. There should be appropriate segregation between pedestrians and road traffic on these plans. This does not appear to have been addressed, please can you set out the reasons why.
25. There are no unloading area markings for the shops and businesses at Broken Cross.
26. The positioning of pedestrian and cyclist crossing points should be considered carefully to ensure that all users have adequate visibility, this does not appear to have been adhered to in this plan, i.e. the new island to the west of the Bellway site.
27. In an age of equality and social responsibility, the vulnerable do not appear to have beenconsidered in this plan.
28. How does this plan fit with the safer routes to school process?
In response to our concerns, the following comments were received from the Highways Officer:
"The plans would form part of the section 278 highway agreement. The drawing is subject to a Road Safety Audit with any recommendations being incorporated into the agreement.
While the drawing isn't subject to public consultation I can feedback any comments made by the Parish Council to the audit team."
The Parish Council await further responses from Cheshire East Highways. The details were sharedwith Mr David Rutley MP, who has expressed serious concerns relating to the Broken Cross junction.