Gallowstree Roundabout Upgrade
Update 12/05/2010
The roundabout junction, including Cemetery Road, will be fully opened to traffic at the end of this week on Friday 14 May. The three-way temporary traffic signals at the roundabout and the one-way restriction in Cemetery Road will be removed once the traffic flow has reduced following the morning peak.
The works have been substantially completed two weeks ahead of schedule, despite time lost at the beginning of this year because of poor weather conditions, with construction costs to budget.
Some finishing works are still outstanding, but these will be of a minor nature and will not require measures that would result in delays to traffic or cause inconvenience to cyclists and pedestrians.
The most significant item of work to be completed is the planting of the central island with trees and shrubs. This could not be carried out before the planting season ended in March and will be done at the start of the next season in November.
Update 11/02/2010
Cemetery Road partly re-opens today
The delayed work will be completed today and the road will be partly opened later this afternoon (see update 15/01/2010 for details)
Update 15/01/2010
Proposed re-opening of Cemetery Road towards Silverdale delayed
The next phase of the project was on programme to get underway during week commencing Monday 18 January 2010. However, progress has been delayed from the beginning of this year as a consequence of the extreme weather conditions. Operations such as concreting and surfacing cannot be carried out in such low temperatures and the frozen ground is making it very difficult to excavate. The snow needs to melt and the frost to come out of the ground to allow work to proceed fully.
Once weather conditions improve, around two weeks work is required in order that Cemetery Road can be opened in a one-way direction, only, immediately adjacent to the roundabout. Motorists will be able to leave the roundabout to travel towards Silverdale, but measures will be put in place to prevent drivers from accessing the roundabout when travelling in the opposite direction. Three-way traffic lights will continue to operate at the junction to control the flow of traffic through the works.
The change will still allow access to all businesses and residential properties in Cemetery Road, although motorists will only be able to exit via Silverdale crossroads at the north end and then follow the signed diversion route where necessary.
Les Dyble, Staffordshire Police Traffic Management Officer said: "That anyone disobeying the temporary one-way order will be committing an offence. Offenders would be risking the safety of other motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and the site workforce by their actions". Mr Dyble continued to say: "The one-way system is being introduced to improve access to Cemetery Road while the rest of the highway works are carried out. If the one-way system is abused then Staffordshire County Council, acting under any recommendations from Staffordshire Police, may decide to re-close the short section of Cemetery Road on safety grounds until the completion of the project.
Staffordshire County Councillor Mike Maryon, Cabinet member for Highways, said: "The team has worked incredibly hard to get to this stage in the project where Cemetery Road can be re-opened to traffic travelling towards Silverdale. It was on schedule to carry out the finishing touches to the carriageway following the Christmas holiday but has had to delay the work due to the prolonged and severe ice and snow. We apologise for any inconvenience that this might cause to residents, motorists and traders in the area and would like to assure people that the work will be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible when the weather conditions improve."
The date for the implementation of the one-way operation in Cemetery Road will be advertised as soon as it is known.
Update 04/12/2009
Next phase of Gallowstree island work is set to start
The next phase of work at Gallowstree island in Newcastle under Lyme is set to get underway on Monday, December 7.
Engineers from the Highways, part of Staffordshire County Council, will be changing the flow of traffic travelling around the island to allow work to be carried out on the opposite side of the road.
Vehicles travelling along the A525 will be switched from the south side of the roundabout to the north side where a temporary road surface has recently been laid.
Motorists using Gallowstree Lane will be moved from the east side of the carriageway onto the west side where a temporary road surface has also been put in place.
Access into Cemetery Road off the island will remain closed until mid-January 2010.
The three-way temporary traffic signals will continue to manage the flow of vehicles along the A525 and Gallowstree Lane.
The changes will also apply to pedestrians and cyclists and the route will be clearly signed.
The crossing on the A525 between Gallowstree Lane and Cemetery Road will move to the west of the junction at the bottom of Keele Bank.
Update 05/11/2009
Progress of works as at start of November 2009
At week 14 of the planned 43 weeks for the project, the work is on programme and still heading for the completion date of May 2010.
Significant utility apparatus work is progressing successfully with British Telecom, Severn Trent Water, Virgin Media, British Gas and Central Networks (Electricity) carrying out necessary alterations and new infrastructure installation. Adjustments to all but one utility's apparatus is on programme or slightly ahead. Work to the remaining company's apparatus is one week behind programme.
The construction of the embankment adjacent to Keele Road and Cemetery Road was substantially completed, using recycled material, in October. The removal, burying and treatment of Japanese knotweed in this area is nearly complete and the combined kerb / drainage units are being installed. The link to the photograph below shows a view of the embankment looking from Cemetery Road towards Keele Bank. Work in this area is slightly ahead of programme.
Gallowstree Roundabout Works
New street lighting installation is complete in Gallowstree Lane, some two weeks ahead of programme.
Cemetery Road will continue to be closed to vehicular traffic for the time being, with three-way temporary traffic signals controlling traffic using the A525 Keele Road and Gallowstree Lane. Queue lengths and delays continue to be monitored for all three approaches to the junction with the temporary signal phasing being regulated to minimise delays overall. Generally, the delays are up to 8 to 9 minutes at peak times and up to 3 to 4 minutes at other times. We are on programme to open Cemetery Road in the one direction only, that is in a northbound direction off Keele Road, from mid January 2010. Three-way temporary signals will continue in operation.
Temporary routes continue to be maintained for the use of pedestrians and cyclists to travel through the junction safely, including along Cemetery Road.
31/07/2009
Project Summary
The scheme is an enlargement of the existing roundabout.
The roundabout is a planning condition of Keele University's development proposals. Because the university has such large scale plans, they are obliged to carry out improvements to the road network. These improvements have been decided as a result of modelling the expected traffic flows resulting from the development.
The project is being funded by Keele University. They have received grants from Advantage West Midlands to help with the scheme. Some additional funding has been provided by Staffordshire County Council.
The development at Keele University is intended to create over 1000 new jobs of all types including knowledge-based employment which should bring an economic boost to the area.
Construction Task
In order to avoid excessive gradients on the approaches to the roundabout, the new road surface will be higher in some places than it is at present and lower in other places.
The construction work is complicated by buried services operated by a dozen different companies. In particular, a BT fibre optic cable runs underground along Keele Road to Keele University and beyond, providing a vital communication link. This cable needs to be lowered through a significant part of the roadworks area in order that it has sufficient protection. Since there is no slack in the cable, it is necessary to expose a long length in order to be able to carry out these adjustments. It is not possible to joint this cable, so any alternatives to the re-aligning and lowering of this cable would require a far greater length of cable to be exposed, causing greater disruption.
Traffic Management
There will be temporary traffic lights on and around Gallowstree roundabout throughout the duration of the project (programmed for 43 weeks). A diversion route will operate throughout the main works.
To see the diversion route please click here Diversion Route pdf
The impact on public traffic will be monitored throughout the works and where anything can be done to reduce the impact on the travelling public this will be done.
Closure of Cemetery Road
From the start of September, one end of Cemetery Road will be closed for some weeks and three-way traffic lights will operate. During the Cemetery Road closure, all properties along the road will be accessible from the Silverdale end.
Cemetery Road needs to be closed because there is insufficient space to allow some construction operations to take place safely and legally whilst public traffic is passing.
One-way System on Cemetery Road
As soon as it is possible, Cemetery Road will re-open (in the northbound direction only) adjacent to the roundabout. Three-way traffic lights will continue to operate. This will allow all premises on Cemetery Road to be accessed from both ends of the road, but visitors leaving will have to go via Silverdale crossroads.
The reason that Cemetery Road will have a temporary one-way system is that otherwise the timings of temporary four-way traffic lights will result in unacceptably long queues.
Final Phase
As soon as is practicable, the one-way system will be removed and works will continue with temporary traffic signals in operation over the minimum lengths required at that time.
Completion is currently programmed for May 2010.
Last Modified:
27/05/2010 11:38:51
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