Attempts to improve road safety on a “dangerous” roundabout following cyclists’ concerns appear to have come to a halt.
Cheshire East Council said it would investigate “potential improvements” to the Manor Lane roundabout at the junction with the A535 in Holmes Chapel.
It came after a cyclist had contacted Holmes Chapel Parish Council at the beginning of the year having been involved in a “near miss”.
They had said: “The roundabout at the Macclesfield Road end of Manor Lane is dangerous for both cyclists and motorcyclists, and I have had near-misses cycling on it.
“The centre of the roundabout is like an upturned saucer, which means it has a slight adverse camber. It is also bounded by a solid white line.
“Cyclists tend to ride around the outside of the solid line. Many motor vehicles drive across the centre at speed, the driver looks to the right when entering the roundabout and is then on a collision course with other road users taking the correct line.”
They added: “The unusual construction of this roundabout is due to the fact that it is on a very large load route. Installing removable bollards around the periphery could solve the problem.”
As a result of the concerns, parish councillors decided to ask Cheshire East to investigate measures to improve safety at the site.
The road safety team replied to the parish council, saying: “We agree that A535/Manor Lane roundabout could potentially be improved to resolve the concerns raised by cyclists within the village.
“I understand that the same marking layout is also present at the A54/Manor Lane roundabout, but the white line needs relaying. Therefore, we will investigate any potential improvements that could be implemented such as cross-hatched markings, and these locations will be added to our list of potential schemes for the next financial year.”
Knocked off
But in August the parish council received another letter from a different cyclist who had been knocked off her bike at the Manor Lane roundabout.
Describing what happened, her email said: “I was knocked off my bike three weeks ago and am still on crutches due to tissue damage but at least no fractures.
“The middle of the roundabout is raised with lights on it, then there is a reddish area surrounded by a white circle and then there is the black tarmac area.
“Being newish to the area, I didn’t expect a car to cut across the reddish area, as I took that to be part of the roundabout.”
The parish council passed the cyclist’s concerns onto Cheshire East, asking if there was an update, after the authority has said in April that it would consider “potential improvements to the roundabout”.
But the road safety team replied, saying: “We have just received injury collision data from the police up to the end of June and this incident will not be on the list.
“There have been no injury collisions recorded in the last five years and therefore, regrettably, road safety cannot justify funding any suggested measures at present.”
The response was discussed at meeting of the parish council’s Village Infrastructure Committee last Thursday, when councillors agreed to – again – raise safety concerns about the roundabout at a meeting with Cheshire East highways officers.
The meeting was due to have taken place on Friday, when village roads in general were also due to be discussed.
