Poynton

Pross

I know there are a few of you from the Poynton area on this forum. Out of professional interest I was wondering how well you feel the shared space scheme that has recently been completed up there works whether as a motorist, cyclist or pedestrian? I have seen video of it in action but it was produced by the people who designed the scheme so will presumably have a positive bias. One of my colleagues has a strong interest in shared space and has been waxing lyrical about this scheme but I thought it would be interesting to hear an unbiased opinion from people who use it fairly regularly.

Mike67

I presume you mean from a car v bike v pedestrian point of view?

I've not used it regularly but was one of 500 plus riders to go through it Sunday last on the Cheshire mini sportive.

My only concern was what appear to be the extremely smooooooth blocks used and their combination with a fair bit of dampness.

I may be fussing over nothing but it made for a tense first mile or so (not helped by me coming off on ice last month).

Does your professional interest extend to the materials used?...Maybe they are actually quite grippy and I'm worriting over nothing?

As for the multi use, there weren't many pedestrians about but any cars that were there seemed quite willing to give way to bikes (maybe had little choice )

Pross

Mike67 wrote:

I presume you mean from a car v bike v pedestrian point of view?

I've not used it regularly but was one of 500 plus riders to go through it Sunday last on the Cheshire mini sportive.

My only concern was what appear to be the extremely smooooooth blocks used and their combination with a fair bit of dampness.

I may be fussing over nothing but it made for a tense first mile or so (not helped by me coming off on ice last month).

Does your professional interest extend to the materials used?...Maybe they are actually quite grippy and I'm worriting over nothing?

As for the multi use, there weren't many pedestrians about but any cars that were there seemed quite willing to give way to bikes (maybe had little choice )

Cheers. I'm interested from all road users point of views but thought it worth asking on here as there have been some adverse comments made (probably by people that have never been there) on cyclist safety. It seems to be people who want more segregation rather than less but from what I've seen the interaction is good with peds crossing safely through the traffic.

On the materials side of things anything used within a trafficked area should have the appropriate skidding resistance so I suspect it's a perception issue but you never know - I have seen some highly dodgy products used in pedestrian areas that look pretty but are like ice as soon as they get wet!

nickyboy zz

I have used it a fair bit, usually down Park Lane to the roundabout, across London Road and onto Chester Road

As a cyclist, at first it is quite unnerving, an apparently rule-free zone. However it works OK providing, as a cyclist, you do the following:

1) Keep your wits about you and use peripheral vision

2) Cycle assertively, maintaining speed and line so other road users can anticipate you

It seems to me that as a cyclist, I can more efficiently navigate the roundabout as a shared use space than as a conventional roundabout, particularly as I can filter down the outside of queues on Park Lane towards the roundabout.

I'm not sure as a motorist I would have the same opinion as the cars seem to back up on Park Lane to the roundabout more than previously. I presume this is because there is a feeling that the London Road traffic has priority. Of course it doesn't in a shared space scheme but perhaps subconsciously the Park Lane drivers feel they have to give priority as London Road is a more major road?

lemon63

nickyboy zz wrote:

As a cyclist, at first it is quite unnerving, an apparently rule-free zone. However it works OK providing, as a cyclist, you do the following:

1) Keep your wits about you and use peripheral vision

2) Cycle assertively, maintaining speed and line so other road users can anticipate you

I don't want to sound condescending but I thought that was how you were meant to ride when approaching roundabouts.

nickyboy zz

lemon63 wrote:

nickyboy zz wrote:

As a cyclist, at first it is quite unnerving, an apparently rule-free zone. However it works OK providing, as a cyclist, you do the following:

1) Keep your wits about you and use peripheral vision

2) Cycle assertively, maintaining speed and line so other road users can anticipate you

I don't want to sound condescending but I thought that was how you were meant to ride when approaching roundabouts.

Nope, that's how you are supposed to ride when approaching a roundabout in a shared use area. In a non-shared use area you are supposed to stop and give way to traffic on the roundabout ie. not maintaining speed

negativelycra

I don't live there, and sometimes travel through.

As a driver, it's bloody mayhem. Noone is even sure that the roundabout is / isn't a roundabout, so you dither - part caused by the utter confusion from other motorists.

As a cyclist, it''s worse. You can't ride assertively, because you;re not sure what you;re meant to be asserting. You join the dirvers looking at each other and trying to guess who is going to jump first. Meanwhile, pedestrians do whatever they like because they;re sick of waiting for a gap in the traffic / cars to move.

So yeah, I'm a massive fan.

Pross

Negativelycra wrote:

I don't live there, and sometimes travel through.

As a driver, it's bloody mayhem. Noone is even sure that the roundabout is / isn't a roundabout, so you dither - part caused by the utter confusion from other motorists.

As a cyclist, it''s worse. You can't ride assertively, because you;re not sure what you;re meant to be asserting. You join the dirvers looking at each other and trying to guess who is going to jump first. Meanwhile, pedestrians do whatever they like because they;re sick of waiting for a gap in the traffic / cars to move.

So yeah, I'm a massive fan.

Well, it sounds like it's working then as the whole concept is that people who are confused slow down and concentrate more.

fossyant

I quite like it as it doesn't half confuse drivers. Driven and ridden through it. What I hate is the idiots that try to get past you just before it starts.

Only down side so far is that it's not possible to filter down the traffic, especially the North bound from Macc, as the very low curb can chuck you off.

It certainly has helped traffic flow though !

negativelycra

Pross,

worked in what way? All it has made me do is avoid the place - the traffic is far worse than before as a car driver, and as a cyclist I'm too busy not getting flattened to want to be there. So yeah - if you're making Poynton less appealing to any visitor whatsoever, it's great.
Foss - helped traffic flow? the queues not going straight down the Macc road are longer than ever! probably due to the shared space causing the roundabout to not work as a roundabout...

Superbalicious

Having driven through the centre on the way to the Sportive, and having ridden through it as part of it, here's my take:

On the face of it, it looked smart. I thought it seemed to open the place up a bit, made it seem more spacious. I thought the choice of materials help, certainly not 'cheap' looking. The double roundabout still seemed to resemble just that... it's not one thing or the other and I noticed it being used just like a roundabout which I thought was a shame as technically it shouldn't be. This is where Highway Engineers appear to have been a bit cautious, not wanting to make that area a 'true' shared space. The unfortunate result of this is drivers, riders, or whoever not really being certain as to who actually has right of way. This in turn not only increases delays and increased queues, but can also increase the risk of accidents.

As a cyclist, turning left on to Park Lane I also felt that the sets used might of had insufficient skid value, which un-nerved me a little. Approaching the main junction (I was going to say roundabouts, but of course they're not!) I tried to tell myself it was a shared space, but unfortunately because of the way everyone was treating the junction, giving way to the right, I ended up doing the same.

It'll be interesting to see if (unfortunately) there are any collisions, whether it transpires that all of the necessary legal stuff is in place for such a scheme... Poynton is in East Cheshire, right...?

thegibdog

Wait... they're not roundabouts??

VRH

Hi

I am researching the surface on the Poynton Roundabout which is very slippy when wet, particularly for cyclists or motorbikes. Instead of tarmac it is a brick paving scheme with little road markings.

Has anyone else encountered any problems at all?