CALLS for the speed limit on the A50 to be reduced have resurfaced, after Cottons Hotel and Spa was granted permission to make permanent use of a second entrance.

Cheshire East Council has given the go-ahead for the Manchester Road complex, north of Knutsford, to install a barrier and use a currently blocked off junction as an entrance only.

An application was approved last week, amid concerns about using another junction within the 60mph speed limit area.

Frequent Cottons visitor Bill Gore said: “The current speed limit is indeed a major factor in the accidents that have occurred along that sector of the A50.

“Thinking time must be increased. Make the speed limit a continuation of the 40mph, install mirrors on the other side of the road opposite the exits for visibility and thinking time increase.”

Mr Gore also suggested improved lighting of the junction and offering education to cyclists in order to help them be seen. A Cottons chef was killed on the A50 last year when hit by a car on his cycle home.

The junction would allow traffic to turn into the car park from both carriageways, with a barrier opening when approached.

A spokesman for Cottons said: “We understand people’s concerns about safety on the road and that’s obviously at the forefront of our minds too, which is why we’ve worked closely with the council to develop our plan.

“It’s not a new entrance and will be used in addition to our other entrance. The barrier will prevent exiting at that junction and will be set back from the road, automatically lifting when a vehicle approaches.

“As a result we are not anticipating any difference to traffic on the road.”

The spokesman added that the road markings will be redrawn, and signs at the junction reconfigured to avoid misuse.

n knutsfordguardian.co.uk