Pressure on Hatherton Bends

A local campaigner has been urging Cheshire Police and Cheshire East Council to tackle the issue of the 'Hatherton Bends' where there have been a spate of accidents, normally involving only one vehicle, in recent years.

Kevan Holt has been writing to the police since March following reports of accidents which have also resulted in lively debates about the causes on the AudlemOnline Chatbox.

His first letter set out the case saying: "They happen frequently on the same bend.....The accidents happen to drivers going from Audlem to Nantwich and when approaching the bend it seems fairly normal, it is a right hander, but the camber is all wrong, the road leans away and is worst right at the apex. The hedgerow is a solid banking so a slight misjudgement and the car clips the banking and flips over. In my view the bend simply needs building up for a stretch of 15 – 20 metres."

After a lengthy delay, the police responded saying: "I agree with you in your letter that the road layout/design does appear to be a significant causatory factor in many of these incidents – a conclusion supported by the number of one vehicle collisions that have taken place."

The police then said they had supplied Cheshire East Highways Department with their figures and asked for a meeting to discuss possible engineering solutions.

After further chasing, the police confirmed a meeting with Highways had taken place who had agreed to undertake work on the bends. Specifically they are going to scrape back the carriageway where the bank has slipped down onto the road surface, place a solid white line along the road edge, renew the signage and look to place some additional slow signs on approaches and finally look into putting down solid white lines along the centre of the carriageway.

The police add: "We did discuss the camber on the road and also the possibility of High Friction dressing on the road surface but this is apparently not possible due to the costs involved."

Audlem Parish Council has also been involved in discussions on the Hatherton Bends and the issue is being taken up with the authorities by a parish councillor at a meeting next week. More when we have further news.

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