After D&G’s service withdrawals, there is a sliver of good news from Arriva pertaining to town services in Macclesfield and the same applies those linking the town with nearby Bollington too. The company is going to give running Monday to Saturday evening services on a commercial basis a go. The timetables for services 5 and 6 are set to change and we have yet to see what they will involve for residents of Weston and Upton Priory. The equivalent journeys to Moss Rose and Bollington are set to stay unaffected for now.
Of course, it is over to us to make use of what survives or it’ll get the axe too. That we are seeing an attempt to stick with offering services at all is a bit of brightness amid what else is happening on our patch and Arriva deserves some credit for that. It would have been rough for Macclesfield to lose town services when Knutsford is to see them continued unaffected and with council funding too. That prospect is not set to come upon us in January anyway and it will be patronage that drives whatever follows next.
However, there has been no news from Arriva today about the soon to be unsupported early Saturday morning 130 journeys from Macclesfield to Manchester though. Macclesfield and Wythenshawe depots seem to be operating separately so we still have to wait to see. Could something be happening with regard to 130 evening services as well? There may be some good news for bus users around Macclesfield but I am not holding my breath just yet. A little more patience is needed but there’s not so much remaining to be revealed at this point. Once all is stable again, it might be time to treat Macclesfield to a summary of its public network like what I have done already for Knutsford and Wilmslow. It looks as if any remaining bus services could do with any extra publicity that I can provide.
Update 2012-11-19: It seems that a bit of arm-twisting was involved in keeping the evening services between Macclesfield and Bollington going, according to last week’s Macclesfield Express. Seeing some community intervention has to be a good thing and the next steps would be better promotion of the service. That Macclesfield town services are continuing too may be a result of the same type of pressure but there was no mention of that in the article. One only can wonder if greater community campaigning would have helped the soon to be lost evening journeys on the 130 (Macclesfield to Manchester), 38 (Macclesfield to Crewe) and 84 (Crewe to Chester). Maybe that’s something that we need to start, as belated as it would be at this stage.
Tags: 10, 130, 5, 6, 9, Alderley Edge, Arriva, Bollington, Cheshire, Cheshire East, Funding, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Manchester, Moss Rose, Services, Spending Cuts, Timetables, Upton Priory, Weston, Wilmslow
The current spate of road works continues. As if the attentions given to the A34 aren’t enough, we have gas network works blighting Macclesfield and the Broken Cross roundabout is the latest victim. Because of the need to rip up part of Gawsworth Road, one side of the roundabout is shut with temporary traffic lights controlling things. That they alternative between the three other roads leading into the roundabout is little consolation to anyone joining a queue at Henbury. It cannot be good on Chester Road either but I have not passed that way so I cannot confirm the situation. Saying that, things haven’t been so bad from the Fallibroome Road side but you can escape around by Upton Priory and the B5087 if needs be. If I were driving this way everyday, I’d be very tempted to find another route until all is over.
Needless to say, bus services like the 130 Macclesfield-Manchester, the 27 Macclesfield-Knutsford and the 19 Macclesfield-Prestbury are getting caught up in all of this and it was particularly bad on Friday evening. So, it’s very much a case of keeping an eye on the real-time bus tracker to see how things are going because things are almost certain to veer markedly away from the timetable. Let’s hope that this doesn’t go on too long because it is having a major impact. Do the people who plan these things realise what disruption gets caused?
Update: Traffic didn’t seem so bad when coming home through Broken Cross this evening. Have people decided to divert around the roadworks?
Tags: 130, 19, 27, Arriva, Bowers, Broken Cross, Buses, Cheshire, Disruption, England, Henbury, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Manchester, Prestbury, Road Works, Timetables, Traffic, Upton Priory, Whirley
Macclesfield’s streets have been getting dug up again and it’s a reminder of what was going on around this time last year when traffic light renewal was under way. About that time, there seemed to be some gas works ongoing too and it is gas mains renewals that are causing the disruption at the moment. The powers that be seem to have focussed their attention around the roundabout at the intersection of Churchill Way and Cumberland Street/Hibel Road. So far, that doesn’t seem to having much effect on the buses that I use though services to Kerridge (the bus used for that service now displays its destination and the vehicle has gained a cherished registration mark too; what was wrong with the standard issue 54 one?), Bollington and Upton Priory surely can’t have escaped the build up of traffic caused by temporary traffic lights. Of course, it would be best if this sort of thing went away for a while but that might be why signs have appeared about a few weeks work lasting for eighty years afterwards. Only time can tell if that promise comes to pass with the rigid plastic pipes that they seem to be using.
Tags: 10, 11, 4, Arriva, Bollington, Buses, Cheshire, England, Kerridge, Macclesfield, Road Works, Timetables, Traffic, Upton Priory
One of the things that amazes me about Cheshire is where you can find footways and traffic lights. Sometimes, these are as far from dense urban areas as you can hope to get. The traffic lights at Bosley Crossroads are typical of the type as perhaps are those at Monk’s Heath. That’s never to say that they are not needed but it is telling how dense traffic can get on Cheshire’s roads at times that even rural locations are afflicted by the malady.
On the other hand, it can amaze one where there aren’t any traffic lights either. For example, having one at the junction of Green Lane and Alderley Road (A538) in Wilmslow would surely help the 130 on its way to Macclesfield during the rush hour. The possibility that really comes to mind is the staggered junction between Priory Lane, Macclesfield Road (B5087) and Prestbury Road near between Upton Priory and Prestbury. I was reminded of this twice when come home from work on my bicycle because with busy filter lanes, someone could take a chance when they shouldn’t and anyone on a pedal cycle cut come off badly as a result. The Connect 19 passes the way too so visibility mightn’t always be what it should be. Of course, you should never pull out of a minor road onto a major one when you cannot see what’s happening but we all can make mistakes, can’t we? It’s not a particularly nice part of the road system of a dark evening or morning so I often wonder if anyone does come a cropper around there.
Tags: Bosley, Buses, Cheshire, Connect 19, Cycling, England, Macclesfield, Monk's Heath, Prestbury, Road Safety, Upton Priory, Wilmslow