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Speed humps installed on Church Road
by Lib Dem team on 20 November, 2020
Temporary speed humps being installed on Church Road, Gatley. Hopefully this will help reduce speeding on a 20mph road near a primary school and with lots of older people needing to cross.
Over the next couple of weeks the 20mph signage will be improved at each end of Church Road and similar changes will be made to Cheadle High Street.
“Church Road is the heart of Gatley and people must come before cars,” said Iain. “This won’t make it perfect, but will slow down vehicles and make Gatley village centre safer and more welcoming.”
32 Comments
Balanced against:-
Researchers warn that dust from brake pads may be as harmful to health as diesel exhaust fumes.
Braking releases toxic metal particles into the air and hitting a bump dislodges even more.
These are breathed in — potentially weakening lungs’ ability to fight infection and making coughs worse.
Scientists from King’s College London tested the impact of brake dust and diesel fumes on immune cells called macrophages.
Both reduced the cells’ ability to destroy bacteria and raised their production of a molecule linked to inflammation.
Surely that argument is for vehicle manufacturers to respond to. And by slowing the traffic there is little or no requirement to use brakes when travelling over the speed hump at 20mph? Also at slower speed there is less pollution caused by ICE vehicles?
No, more pollution is caused by the constant gear changing. You do need to brake even at 20 as the council apparently don’t adhere to the guideline on height of humps that states you should be able to traverse them at the speed limit without causing damage or discomfort. We already know the council is ideologically opposed to cars, but unfortunately they don’t appear to be able to organise a booze-up in a brewery when it comes to alternatives
Temporary speed humps? Is this a trial to see if they are effective?
Great to see some *physical* deterrents put in place to stop speeding drivers risking lives.
If traffic is moving at the correct (slow) speed, there should be no need for sudden braking and then restarting. But as they’re temporary, it should allow the opportunity to see whether or not any additional congestion occurs.
Can we soon see some more of these (and better signage) around Cheadle’s 20 mph streets with schools on them? High Grove Road, for example? 🙂
Speed humps on Cheadle High Street? Are you having a laugh?! Traffic is considered to be moving fast if you can achieve second gear on that road! Have you never heard of ‘The Cheadle Crawl’ ?
Where did you get information on humps in Cheadle village?
Depends what time you come through, Sue. I’ve certainly seen cars speeding dangerously in the evenings.
Why are they temporary?
Speed humps are a necessity but I believe that raised junctions are a better option for reducing speed as they are at the busiest point of the road where you have pedestrians & vehicles
Why are they temporary?
Speed humps are a necessity but I believe that with raised junctions are a better option for reducing speed as they are at the busiest point of the road where you have pedestrians & vehicles crossing – on road with long stretches between junctions sped humps are added
I wrote to local newspapers about 25 years ago to ask readers to give their opinions on speed humps. To avoid biasing the answers, I did not say whether I was for or against speed humps. I still have a file containing the results of my survey. It was almost 90% against humps. I received impassioned correspondence from people who had taken relatives screaming with pain from terminal illnesses across speed humps. Since then, I have avoided humps wherever possible. Estate agents have told me of houses whose value was substantially reduced because of humps and businesses that lost so much trade that they had to close. Bus routes were closed because of damage to vehicles or because of the difficulty retaining drives for routes over humps – routes we lost were the busy bee between Heald Green and Gatley via St Ann’s Road. Some taxi firms were reluctant to drive on this route. Please don’t kill off local business by insisting on humps as it has already suffered enough from COVID virus. By all means install speed monitors catching everything moving at more than 15 mph. Routinely send out enormous fines to offending drivers. I write as a conscientious driver who is proud of holding a clean licence since 1955.
These humps are temporary because they’re funded from a government fund specifically for temporary measures. Raised junctions are better, and much more expensive too, but we’re looking at these for some roads (e.g. Broadway, Wensley Road) and it’s quite possible that temporary measures could become permanent at some point.
Delighted to see these. Can you please carry them on to Styal Road? Its a race track and far more dangerous !
Let’s get speed bumps on Cheadle High Street asap but please make sure they extend to the whole of the 20mph zone. Perhaps extend the 20mph zone (and the speed bumps) back towards Stockport for circa 100 – 200 metres to stop the idiots speeding in an attempt (and thankfully usually failing) to save 30 seconds when the lights turn red. Speeding is a very serious problem on the High Street. Exactly the same problem as you exit and enter Cheadle on the Gatley side with selfish speeding drivers showing a blatant disregard to pedestrians by blasting out noxious fumes as they head to the A34 lights and come to a stop.
Perhaps if there weren’t lights every hundred yards people might not feel the need to try to beat them? Might only be 30 seconds there but when you get 9 or 10 sets it adds up
Oh dear.
That says something about a driver that thinks breaking the law, causing danger and increasing pollution is worth saving a few more seconds journey time. What is the world coming to?
Speeding is not a problem on the High St neither is it a necessity. They disfigure the roads, disfigure the environment and in some cases cause damage to cars if taken at the wrong angle. What’s the Lib Dem’s view on this Iain?
Well said
They are ugly and don’t work. Offenders will find other roads to speed on. Police need to do their jobs as it is against the law instead of using valuable resources harassing shop owners and the public for unlawful restrictions and not wearing masks
Hi Alan – I have seen speeding as an issue on the High Street – not at the busier times so much, but still very much an issue. Speed humps have been a part of driving in Britain for decades now – I drive over at least one speed hump pretty much every time I take my car out. I would hope anyone who knows how to drive also knows how to drive over speed humps. I want Cheadle village to be a place that puts people first – the priority is to make it a pleasant and safe environment for shoppers and other visitors.
Many drivers incorrectly traverse speed humps by straddling them, that is passing the centre of the car directly over the top of the speed hump. Doing that seriously damages the inside side walls of tyres because the side walls are compressed and crushed by the angle of the speed hump, tyres are not designed for that. Resultant damage can lead to a blow out on the motorway.
The correct way to negotiate speed humps is to alternately pass over the top by one side of the car then the other on following humps, so that the wheels/tyres are not compressed unequally. It is not always possible to alternate between humps, but that method should be adopted nevertheless to avoid dangerous tyre damage.
To avoid constant braking and accelerating maintain a steady speed of no more than 15mph, thus alleviating issues of pollution, vehicle damage and also being more comfortable. Practice precise throttle control.
This advice is universally adopted by motoring and professional driving organisations.
Why would I want to maintain a constant speed of 15 mph in a 20 area?
Any measures to improve safety of our residents in Gatley is welcomed. I believe the speed bumps should be extended to include Gatley Road/Northernden Road prior to Church Road. This would help negotiate the junction safely from all directions. In addition, speed bumps should be introduced the whole length of Styal Road at say 150m to 250m intervals. The benefit would out way the costs to implement – noise reduction, reduction in accidents, ease of access and egress, safe walking and cycling, improvement to the environment and ecological habitat. I hope this suggestion can be moved forward rather than wasting tax payers money on resurfacing pavements and replacing kerbs in areas where the footfall is one man and his dog.
Noise would be increased, as would pollution, by people driving in lower gears, safety would be reduced as has been mentioned above, by damage to tyres and vehicles, and humps in snow or icy conditions are hugely dangerous for cyclists.
It’s a start, and thank you for trying to move the needle, but as others have said, hopefully it’s a prelude to much more.
If we really want to prioritise people above motor traffic, we should block all through motor-traffic on Church Road. Put a roadblock halfway along the road so drivers there are access-only (to visit shops or homes). The turnings at both ends are often horribly busy anyway, but more importantly it would help move our high street back towards being a destination not just a through road.
What a stupid idea. Just gridlock the rest of the area? And what about deliveries? It shouldn’t be be a case of prioritising people over cars or vice versa, both are important and road planners need to accept that
There is no need to be so dismissive. This approach has been used very successfully in many locations, where there are thriving high streets as a result. You could get pavement seating outside, have more footfall, and less pollution. It could be a huge boon to local shops. I for one would be much happier taking my young son to the high street if it was less clogged up.
Of course it shouldn’t be done without proper consideration of things like deliveries but it can work, and if done well, actually makes it easier for them. And if removing rat running traffic from our high street would cause gridlock, it suggests we have too much traffic and it’s something that we should be looking to improve. Do you really want our high street full of cars?
It could always be trialled and if it doesn’t work then at least we know. But if it does, then great! If we don’t try and improve, we never will.
More humps the better…..they are not about pollution , they are about people adhering to the 20mph limit, all in all a great idea, they need to be permanent, they could even make church road a toll road..i will offer to collect the money myself
People will soon realise that they can take a short cut as they do when Church Road is snarled up. This will bring more cars down Burnside Road and Beech Avenue which already suffer before and after children go to Gatley Primary School.
I have seen the temporary speed humps on Church Road and the vehicles speeding over them. In my view this is a complete waste of time and money. Why don’t we just have speed cameras up on Church Road, Gatley Road and Styal Road. That way, providing they are managed properly, people would be fined for speeding which is generally a good deterrent and there is a revenue from it. Oakwood Avenue, Burnside Road and Beech Avenue are like race tracks, particularly during times of heavy traffic on Church Road and Gatley Road because they are used as cut through roads. This is despite Burnside Road and Beech Avenue both having permanent speed humps and 20 miles per hour signs. Clearly the speed humps and signage have no effect on drivers.
I do agree with Sue Williams, especially her last comment. Obviously it needs a woman to sort it out and the sooner the better.
Totally agree with Sue and Jennifer.
Although, some support from Iain and the other Lib Dems would help the case.
Maybe if you mend the potholes instead…. that does a lot of damage to cars and they slow down to avoid/drive slowly over them causing more fumes. At this rate there won’t be a need for speed humps- the roads themselves will suffice as they are in such a terrible state.