Stoops Island - Latest Update following Complaints
I have received several anonymous complaints regarding the waiting times because of the work being carried out. Jonathan and Ben emailed me and have given some thought to the situation and I have held some positive dialogue with the Council. The following is a copy of the email to Ben outlining the position and a possible improvement to traffic flows over the next 4 to 6 week period."Work on the roundabout comprises the construction of a "free flow link" from A570 southbound to M62 East (towards Manchester) and the widening of the north side of the roundabout from three lanes to five.
To enable the widening works on the roundabout to proceed, it will be necessary to restrict the roundabout to 2 lanes in order to provide a safety zone between the works and the live traffic lanes. The approaches from the A570 and A557 will have to be coned down to 2 lanes to facilitate this.
As the traffic signals have to be moved back and the ducts require extending, the traffic signals have been switched off with the exception of the signals on the approaches from the motorway. The Highways Agency have concerns about traffic backing up along the slip roads and blocking the motorway, so the signals have been retained at these locations to ensure that traffic queues do not build up excessively and block the motorway.
The particular officer travels through this junction on his journeys to and from work and he is aware of the longer than normal queues on the non-signalised approaches. He has spoken to the Traffic Control Section and they will look to reduce the green times for the slip roads and increased the green times for traffic on the roundabout. They can monitor the junction through CCTV cameras and will review the changes to the signal timings to ascertain whether they can get an improvement to traffic flows through the junction.
We hope to get the traffic signals working on the south side of the junction by the end of May. Although the official completion date for the whole scheme is October, we expect the works to be completed before this ( perhaps September) and some of the capacity improvements should be operational prior to this. Traffic flows are lighter in the late Spring/Summer, so the delays at the junction are likely to be less than if the works were being constructed through the Winter"
posted by Cllr. Steve Glover at
2:56 pm
8 comment(s):
By
Anonymous, at
5:53 pm
I personally feel that the layout of the current roundabout is already quite dangerous when approaching from the A557 without this additional problem: the left turn only lane on the approach is constantly abused, with people using it a short-cut to bypass people queuing (in the correct lane) on the right. I commute this way every day and have had at least three near accidents as a result of this type of behaviour in the past few months - a redesign on this approach would be most helpful, although I don't believe that it will be included in the current bout of road works. At the very least it should be signed as a left-turn only much more clearly and the road markings should also be improved.
By
Anonymous, at
11:22 am
Am I the only one who has noticed the widening on the inside of the roundabout looks like its going to go down the embankment! Surely this idea is crazy.
By
Anonymous, at
10:28 pm
By
Anonymous, at
12:44 pm
What do you think of us changing to driving on the right, and also putting road signs in Kilometres like our European neighbours.
By
Anonymous, at
8:37 pm
Its a good job the mother in law was there or I'd have screamed blue murder and launched the lane intrusive, diesel guzzling GOAT! Had to get my pertunias home though, it was forecast rain
By
Anonymous, at
12:08 am
Hope the pertunias made it OK! :o)
By
Anonymous, at
9:02 pm
Coming from the A57 Rainhill to M62 eastbound, which lane do I use?
Markings are still on the inside approaching the roundabout, but with only 2 lanes on the roundabout, a quick swap is needed to avoid going back to St Helens. A bit of white paint in that area woulds simplify life considerably. Too much to expect?
If you are coming from Widnes, don't use the Stoops - come through Cronton or Sutton Manor!
By
Anonymous, at
10:52 pm
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