M56 J7

[.Flyer]

Every morning without fail, traffic is backed-up on the M56 Eastbound around junction 7 (turn off for Altrincham). This is solely due to the inside lane becoming an exit filter lane for the A556, so narrowing the M56 down to two lanes (same thing happens Westbound in the evening).

The inside lane is more or less empty; just the odd car turning off.

So, do the Highways Agency have some master plan that I can't quite see yet? That perhaps there is a valid reason for the constant stop....crawl forward....brake......stop.... that we have to endure every day because a motorway, one that carries huge amounts of traffic into Manchester, has been narrowed down to two lanes?

[Terry Tibbs]

it is to help the large volumes of traffic that enter the m56 from the bowden r'bout get onto the m'way,
though i must say that i never had a problem getting on in the first place if you just follow the slip to the end and zip merge

as for westbound well sometimes it helps sometimes it doesn't.
it was still best when it was two lanes off, a real test for the "i can only drive fast in a straight line" rep boys brakeing mid corner as i whizzed along, unfortunatly a number of lorries kept falling over and the bridge has structural problems (or did have) so it gets reduced to one lane which effectively starts from a mile back which causes a number of probelms on the hill before the junction with it backing up as everyone gets in lane too early mixed up with those who don't want to be in that lane but can't get in lane two or can't read big signs

[lazyitus]

As T Tibbs says.

It has stopped jams on the slip road from the A556. Between 7.45am and 9am this slip road has traditionally been a long crawl all the way from the bowden roundabout, typically taking 10-20 minutes to get onto the M56, particularly in the winter, dark months.

All it has done is swapped the queue to the M56 instead.

[.Flyer]

Thanks guys, can understand that, but surely this is a short-term solution? I didn't leave work until 7 tonight and was still at a standstill nr junction 7 westbound. Crazy. Eastbound, I still haven't seen any queues of traffic exiting or joining the M56.

And of course, it's only going to get worse, with increased volume of traffic. I take it there's no plans to do anything to relieve the bottleneck? Thought not..

[Terry Tibbs]

they've got road works up and the traffic is being put over on the nearside and narrow so people will slow even more than usual which has a knock-on effect

went to mcr this morning and there is a fair volume of traffic, in fact it was stopped before the minor cross roads by the rest home on the a556 but getting on the m'way is just a breeze now

[ozonejunky]

Actually it's getting pretty dangerous Westbound. Whilst most folks dutifully queue up for a mile or so before the exit, there's always a handful of nuggets who go down the middle lane and then stop while they try to muscle into the queuing traffic. One such intelligent life form nearly found a truck parked in his rear seat yesterday. It's about time the highways agency sort the bridge out to allow the proper volume of traffic through before there's a major incident. They've mucked about with for years and it really gets on my nerves !!!!

Rant over.

Edited by ozonejunky on Thursday 18th October 13:55

[brocks]

I commute through here every morning The queues Eastbound on the M56 can go to the M^ and beyond. Even at 6am with very little traffic, the two lanes slow considerably.....I had a look on the highways agency Website and they have admitted they hadn't intended this and are looking at another re-design.

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/17222.as...

[MiniMac]

The bloody roadworks near the Chester High Road (A540?) are a joke to. Never seen anyone working up on the actual road, blanket 40 limit, down to one lane.

And mobile 'safety cameras'. Infuriating.