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New one-way system is turning Northwich into a ghost town

8:20am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Letters

JUST had an encounter on the one way system recently implemented in Northwich.

If Northwich was short of shoppers, and shops, then this crazy new traffic calming scheme certainly will have the desired effect. Shoppers will simply travel elsewhere.

It would seem quite ludicrous that this scheme would seem just to cause chaos, making travel through Northwich virtually impossible, not to mention the confusion and no doubt minor bumps as a result of this confusion.

Northwich is virtually a ghost town.

I realise that times are hard but surely some form of incentive could be initiated to get more shops in Northwich, then once here help and assist them to stay.

Briefly it took me nearly an hour to get from Tesco’s to Moulton at roughly 7pm.

It would have been quicker if I had gone to Winsford.

This surely can’t be the right way forward.

There has to be another way.

Perhaps the planners could take the view that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

N MOORE Moulton

Comments(17)

if it aint broken says...
8:53am Wed 8 Feb 12

This was a ill thought out plan to justify some useless public servants job, cost money to implement and will cost us more to put back, but no worries in a recession we can afford it can,t we? Guess we could if we sacked all the idiots involved

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I Gibbons says...
10:23am Wed 8 Feb 12

Morning all,

The petition response this far has been great, however I have just been informed that due to the number of people signing the petition (which is a good thing!), iPetition will prompt for a donation AFTER the signature has been recorded. Do not panic! There is NO requirement for a donation to iPetition and as soon as you receive this message you will have had your valid signature recorded against the petition.

I'm in communication with the Northwich Gyratory - The Truth facebook group who are raising objections to the system and are planning a paper based petition which I'm hoping we can combine with this one with the same petition details.

As always I will keep you posted.

http://www.ipetition
s.com/petition/scrap
-the-new-northwich-o
ne-way-system/

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barminbel says...
11:19am Wed 8 Feb 12

I am a frequent user and travel through Northwich many times a week and I think allthough not perfect that once people are able to "navigate" there way through this sysyem it will be bettter!

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stardusziggy says...
11:58am Wed 8 Feb 12

the new system can never work as long as all the traffic lights are still there, how can traffic possibly "flow" when every few yards it is halted by red lights? usual great foresight by these anonymous suits.also,at a time when shops are closing at an alarming rate,what are all these people actually doing in town? could many of these cars use the by-pass,instead of taking what they think is a short cut through town. also many might ask"is my journey really necessary ?

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47thmoon says...
2:14pm Wed 8 Feb 12

Barons Quay has been a nightmare to get on and off on Saturdays for a long time. New gyratory has made it much worse and spread chaos all around. Never again will I attempt to get into town on a Saturday. God knows what more will come IF EVER THE REGENERATION of that area ever gets beyond gridlock???

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47thmoon says...
2:16pm Wed 8 Feb 12

Barons Quay has been a nightmare to get on and off on Saturdays for a long time. New gyratory has made it much worse and spread chaos all around. Never again will I attempt to get into town on a Saturday. God knows what more will come IF EVER THE REGENERATION of that area ever gets beyond gridlock???

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makem948 says...
8:25am Thu 9 Feb 12

Now that we are experienced in the new traffic scheme wouldn't it be a good idea to test the emergency plans which must be in being ? What exactly happens when one of the two bridges is out of commission due to an incident ? Heretofore they have been mutually supportive. Now they are absolutely interdependent. This must have been foreseen and planned for ?
Ray Pearson

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47thmoon says...
12:31pm Thu 9 Feb 12

obvioussly, in the event of emergency, we will all be able to use the third bridge promissed at the last election to take traffic from Winnington to the dream development at Baron's Quay?

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mike54 says...
4:10pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Changing lanes is the problem. Compared to a road junction, lights, roundabouts where everyone knows what to do, changing lanes on a busy road is down to the "goodwill" of other drivers letting your vehicle in. This causes indecision and misunderstanding, leading to accidents. For this reason the gyratory brings in additional problems whilst solving nothing.

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davefc says...
5:28pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Perhaps the problem lies at the 2 juctions on to the dual carriage ways. At Venables Road and the Police station.
If all traffic was to be made to go via Leicester street then you would not be waiting at those traffic lights. Also i believe that at J and S traffic lights that traffic should not be allowed to go straight on.

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remoh2 says...
8:03pm Mon 13 Feb 12

mike54 wrote:
Changing lanes is the problem. Compared to a road junction, lights, roundabouts where everyone knows what to do, changing lanes on a busy road is down to the "goodwill" of other drivers letting your vehicle in. This causes indecision and misunderstanding, leading to accidents. For this reason the gyratory brings in additional problems whilst solving nothing.
I have to agree with most of this, all but the last bit.
No-one who comes regularly into town via Winnington Lane could do anything but praise the new system from the word go. There are no longer the queues backing up from town to Winnington village at any time of day. That is just one of the problems that have been solved and this is despite the lane-swapping dodgems drivers on Town Bridge, who, for the most part, could stay in the right-hand lane all the way through the lights and then, if going straight on, have plenty of time to move across before reaching the Seafarer lights
Another common driver's fault which I have noticed is the habit, when coming down the dual-carriageway to go in Castle or Winnington direction, of staying in the left -hand lane, then changing after the bridge. No wonder people lose time!
I have now used the system at all times of day and from all directions and every single time it has been quicker than before, even allowing for the confusion of some users and i would love to see the gyratory stay.

I'm confident that by the end of the trial period, we will all love it.
Patience, folks.

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INEEDTOSAYTHIS says...
4:31pm Tue 14 Feb 12

Northwich.....GOOD SCHOOLS......quite safe place to live....lovely and quiet....beautiful country side within 5 mins.As good as place as any if you dont want facilities to enjoy yourself as an individual and with your family.Northwich is being let down by the powers that be FOR TOO LONG.

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AntiNimby says...
8:10pm Wed 15 Feb 12

"despite the lane-swapping dodgems drivers on Town Bridge, who, for the most part, could stay in the right-hand lane all the way through the lights and then, if going straight on, have plenty of time to move across before reaching the Seafarer lights"

This is really a misunderstanding of what is happening, many want to go to Barons Quay from Castle,while many others from Winnington want to go to Leftwich. This leads to no option but dangerous lane changing. I can also relay that this system is affecting emergency response times to Leighton hospital.

Please sign the petition to get this dangerous mess removed.

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WHS says...
9:20pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Good God, what are you lot moaning about? The system works a **** sight better than the old one. For one thing when a lorry goes over one of the bridges it doesn't bring all other traffic to a standstill as it used to, the same applied to buses. I sat at the bus station today for twenty minutes and never saw any hold up in any direction except when the traffic lights were on red nand that was not the case before. Change can be good and this change is good. Once people have used the system for a week or two the lane problems will solve them selves.
WHS.

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AntiNimby says...
11:25pm Thu 16 Feb 12

I have heard many people are avoiding the town centre and many businesses have noticed a significant fall in taking since the system has been introduced. Is that progress?

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remoh2 says...
7:15pm Fri 17 Feb 12

AntiNimby wrote:
"despite the lane-swapping dodgems drivers on Town Bridge, who, for the most part, could stay in the right-hand lane all the way through the lights and then, if going straight on, have plenty of time to move across before reaching the Seafarer lights" This is really a misunderstanding of what is happening, many want to go to Barons Quay from Castle,while many others from Winnington want to go to Leftwich. This leads to no option but dangerous lane changing. I can also relay that this system is affecting emergency response times to Leighton hospital. Please sign the petition to get this dangerous mess removed.
It was always the case that most of the traffic which crossed the bridge towards the Bull Ring lights was going straight on through the lights, leaving a minority to turn left.
Coming down Winnington Hill into town this afternoon, I saw three cars waiting to move from right to left lane on the approach to the bridge, causing delay to both lanes. Only one of the three went left, the others going straight ahead. Drivers such as those two are the problem, not the gyratory.
I will not be signing the petition.

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mike54 says...
8:46pm Fri 17 Feb 12

remoh2 wrote:
AntiNimby wrote: "despite the lane-swapping dodgems drivers on Town Bridge, who, for the most part, could stay in the right-hand lane all the way through the lights and then, if going straight on, have plenty of time to move across before reaching the Seafarer lights" This is really a misunderstanding of what is happening, many want to go to Barons Quay from Castle,while many others from Winnington want to go to Leftwich. This leads to no option but dangerous lane changing. I can also relay that this system is affecting emergency response times to Leighton hospital. Please sign the petition to get this dangerous mess removed.
It was always the case that most of the traffic which crossed the bridge towards the Bull Ring lights was going straight on through the lights, leaving a minority to turn left. Coming down Winnington Hill into town this afternoon, I saw three cars waiting to move from right to left lane on the approach to the bridge, causing delay to both lanes. Only one of the three went left, the others going straight ahead. Drivers such as those two are the problem, not the gyratory. I will not be signing the petition.
remoh2 says...
Coming down Winnington Hill into town this afternoon, I saw three cars waiting to move from right to left lane on the approach to the bridge, causing delay to both lanes. Only one of the three went left, the others going straight ahead. Drivers such as those two are the problem, not the gyratory.
I will not be signing the petition.”
Changing lanes, especially in very busy traffic, is never easy, even to experienced drivers. It relies on "goodwill" of other drivers to "let them in". This manouvre goes against most everyday driving encountered by a town driver. Whilst waiting for a space to move to, the lane is blocked. Some drivers move over early, in preparation to take a left turn, rather than being "cheeky" and leaving the turn to the last minute.
All this is unnecessary - the gyratory needs scrapping ASAP

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