Take Part in the A540 Safety Improvements Survey

The Chester Cycling Campaign and other local cycling organisations are fighting for improvements to be made on the A540 to protect the safety of the many cyclists who use this route for commuting, training, and leisure cycling. The road is also the only way to access the Eureka Cyclists’ Cafe, exposing customers to the risks associated with the heavy and fast moving traffic on this route.

In order to be able to press for improvements, we need to gather cyclists’ views about what would be their preferred options for any safety improvements that might be made to the road.

Take a few minutes to register your views which will be used in our liaison work with the relevant Highway Authorities and Cheshire West and Chester Council. Please vote only once in order to maintain the integrity of the results. Updated poll results will be posted on this website regularly.

Note that the old road numbering system has been used for this survey, as this is the numbering that most of us will be familiar with.

Click here to view the results of the survey so far

Below is an orientation map of the area which will assist you in answering the questions. Clicking on the map will open a larger version of the map in a new window.

A540 Cyclist Survey Questions

A540 Safety Improvement Survey Results

The results of the A540 Safety Improvements survey will be collated and posted here periodically.

Click here to view the survey results as at 4 September 2010. Note that you may need to click on the image of the results when it appears in order to make it appear full size and readable.

Action Needed Urgently to Protect A540 Cyclists

Another serious accident involving two cyclists took place on Wednesday, 28 October 2009, on the A540  beyond Chapel Lane towards Chester not far from the Eureka cafe.   A man and a woman, both members of the Birkenhead North End Cycling Club, were knocked off their bikes by a passing van.  Allegedly the wing mirror of the van caught the cyclists knocking them off their bikes and resulting in serious injuries to them both.

Speaking about the incident, Chester Cycling Campaign member and CTC Right to Ride Representative Peter Williams commented, “Various safety campaigns regarding the dangers of this stretch of the A540 have been mounted in the past with little success.   We need to get all interested parties to campaign on one front, including  various cycling clubs, cycle campaign groups, local parish councils and residents societies.”

Since the incident took place, some ‘Think Bike’ signs have been put up.  However, the Campaign is calling for a better long term solution.  This stretch of road is heavily used by road club members out training, by leisure cyclists exploring the Wirral, and by those visiting the Eureka Cafe.  The wide verges on this part of the A540 could easily support a separate cycle lane for increased safety.

Although the costs of such a solution have been cited as a reason for inaction, the highway authorities do need to consider the casualty rate on this stretch of road and act now to protect cyclists.