Cat and Fiddle Road
| A road in the UK | |
| Cat and Fiddle Road | |
| Basic data | |
| Operator: | Highways Agency |
| Start of the street: |
Buxton (Derbyshire) ( 53 ° 16 ′ N , 1 ° 55 ′ W ) |
| End of street: |
Macclesfield ( 53 ° 16 ′ N , 2 ° 7 ′ W ) |
| Overall length: | 19 km (11.8 mi ) |
| Requirement for use: | Speed limit to 50 mph (80 km / h) |
| Development condition: | asphalted, partially guardrails route from parts of the A53, A54 and A537 |
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| A back road joins the A537 near the Cat and Fiddle Inn. Macclesfield Forest on the horizon. | |
Map with all coordinates: The Cat and Fiddle Road is a road connection of national and tourist importance in England between Buxton ( Derbyshire ) and Macclesfield ( Cheshire ). It is named after the Cat and Fiddle Inn pub at its apex and consists of sections of A Roads A537, A54 and A53. The road is famous for views of the Greater Manchester metropolitan area , Peak District National Park and Cheshire Plain, and for its many curves. It is particularly popular with motorcyclists and was considered the most dangerous road in the UK .
course
The route begins at the junction of the A5004 (also known as Long Hill Road ) with the A53 in Buxton near the Church of St John the Baptist , on the north side of the Opera House. It follows the A53 through the western parts of Buxton to the junction of the A54 ( Macclesfield Main Road ) at Ladmanlow. Following the latter, it climbs in several sharp bends through the moorland of Goyt's Moss , where it merges 1.7 miles (2.8 km) after the junction from the A53 into the A537 and continues almost straight to the Cat and Fiddle Inn , where it reaches its apex at an altitude of 1,690 feet (520 m). From there it leads in a series of sharp and often confusing curves downhill to Macclesfield, where after about 12 miles (19 km) the A523 joins the train station.
traffic
Cat and Fiddle Road is one of only two roads connecting Macclesfield to towns to the east, and therefore has both long-distance and local traffic. It is also used by heavy trucks . It also arranges tourist traffic in the Peak District National Park , which includes cyclists and walkers . The road is part of the Cat and Fiddle - Long Hill (A5004) - Highwayman (B5470) triangle, which is popular with motorcyclists for its frequent and sharp turns. Due to the varied use of the road, the number and tightness of the curves and the frequent stray cattle, special care is required, and wintry weather conditions make the road particularly dangerous.
Traffic safety
Because of the many accidents with injuries and fatalities (44 serious or fatal accidents from 2007 to 2011 alone), the speed limit on the section between Macclesfield and the Cat and Fiddle Inn was increased from the nationally usual 60 mph (97 km / h) to 50 mph (80 km / h) reduced. Civil patrol cars and motorcycles patrol the street regularly, and mobile speed monitoring is in place on most summer weekends . In connection with this, the police also monitor traffic from the air.
Back in 2008 the road was named the most dangerous in the UK. The route without separate carriageways was in EuroRAP report in the black category d. H. the ones with the highest risk. Despite various measures taken by the road construction authority, such as the construction of motorcycle-friendly crash barriers, serious accidents occur again and again, which are mainly attributed to the behavior of road users, especially motorcyclists. If you subtract the number of accidents involving motorcycles from the total, the road appears to be one of the safest in the country.
After investing GBP 500,000 in safety measures such as lowering the maximum speed limit, making the road surface more grippy, warning markings, crash barriers and signage, widening the roadway and mobile speed monitoring, the Cheshire Council announced in January 2009 that it would be part of a joint project by the Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership ( of which Cheshire East Council is a member), Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership and the Department for Transport to spend an additional £ 1.2 million on average speed monitoring equipment installed along the A537 and A54 from February 2010. Initial problems stemmed from the fact that there are some shortcuts on which the normal speed limit of 60 mph (97 km / h) applies and which reduce both the total distance and the driving time.
Of the 264 casualties on this road between 2001 and 2011, around 70% of the seriously injured or dead were motorcyclists. The main causes of accidents were poor driving style, especially when cornering, excessive speed and misjudgment of the distance or the speed of other vehicles. According to Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership manager Lee Murphy, most accidents are caused by driver behavior rather than road conditions, and most accidents involve individual vehicles.
In 2010, Cat and Fiddle Road was still the most dangerous road in the country, and while a total of 15 accidental deaths were recorded from 2003 to 2005, that number rose to 34 for the period from 2006 to 2008. However, after further safety measures were put in place (notably improved crash barriers, speed limits and average speed monitoring), the route was no longer among the top ten most dangerous roads in the UK in 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b BBC: Cat and Fiddle: Peaks route still Britain's 'most dangerous' . October 31, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
- ↑ Peak District National Park: Factsheet 20 . Archived from the original on August 9, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
- ↑ EURORAP 2008: GB TRACKING SURVEY RESULTS . European Road Assessment Program. June 30, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b Britain’s persistently higher-risk roads (2001–2003 & 2004–2006) . European Road Assessment Program. June 27, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2015.
- ^ Rhiannon McDowall: Finger points at the bikers . In: Macclesfield Express , July 2, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ↑ Shock safety campaign . In: Manchester Evening News , February 26, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ^ Cat and Fiddle camera plea . In: Manchester Evening News , April 19, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ↑ Speed cameras for dangerous Cat and Fiddle road . BBC News. February 15, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ↑ Steve Farrell: The £ 800,000 speed camera cock-up , motorcyclenews.com. April 25, 2010. Accessed November 27.
- ↑ Average speed cameras to be installed along Cat & Fiddle . Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership. 2011. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved on April 8, 2015.
- ↑ Popular bike road is UK's most dangerous , Insidebikes. June 30, 2010. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved on August 4, 2015.
- ↑ A537 Cat & Fiddle drops out of top ten in Britain's 'most dangerous' roads list . In: Buxton Advertiser , March 31, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
