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Mottram bypass plans branded 'stone age idea'

Thursday, 26 November 2020 08:24

By Charlotte Green, Local Democracy Reporter @CharGreenLDR

Huge bypass plans which aim to tackle congestion between Manchester and Sheffield have been branded a 'stone age idea' which 'threaten' the Peak District national park.

Highways England have gone out to seek public feedback on proposals to build link roads around the A57 in Tameside and Glossop, the ‘Mottram bypass’, which will cost £228m.

Around 25,000 vehicles travel along the A57 through Mottram every day, including over 2,000 HGVs – equivalent to one lorry entering the village every 42 seconds.

The new two-mile dual carriageway bypass will run from the roundabout at the end of the M67 (junction 4) to a new junction on the A57 in Woolley Bridge, which will separate the Glossop-bound traffic.

It will become a single carriageway 30mph section between Mottram in Longdendale and the Woolley Bridge junction.

The project has been in the pipeline for more than ten years.

Highways England have confirmed that plans to create a link road connecting Roe Cross Road, together with a new junction and Cricket Ground roundabout, have been scrapped.

Roe Cross Road will now run over the western end of the underpass on a bridge.

“This will make construction of the scheme quicker, cheaper, and less disruptive,” the consultation report states.

“It will also make the scheme safer, reduce the impacts of the scheme on open land, wildlife, watercourses and retain existing views from more neighbouring properties.”

However Anne Robinson, a campaigner with CPRE (formerly known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England) Peak District and South Yorkshire, has spoken out against the scheme.

She says that road building in the area over the past 50 years has meant communities around the east of Manchester have to endure ‘severe traffic congestion and air pollution’.

“The world has changed – with a climate and ecological emergency and a Covid pandemic that has changed travel patterns and work locations – and still this stone age idea is being pushed,” she said.

“The current proposals won’t help as they simply relieve parts of Mottram and shift the traffic jam further east leaving Hollingworth and Tintwistle to endure the current conditions.

“Traffic and carbon emissions would rise, and air pollution would continue.

“The bypass also threatens our Peak District National Park as the plan is to extend the link roads east as an express-way to the M1 at Barnsley.”

Ms Robinson believes the solution is to ban the through traffic of heavy lorries, and use the free up road space for other means of transport including walking and cycling.

“Home working means reduced car travel would become the norm, so there is less need for road space,” she added.

“These options need to be implemented urgently if we are to relieve all the local communities and see off the climate threat to all our futures.”

However backers of the same scheme say it will improve air quality and tackle congestion.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We’re working harder than ever to level up infrastructure and deliver for the Northern Powerhouse.

“This new bypass is another great example of that. It will boost connectivity, better linking two key northern cities in Sheffield and Manchester, tackle congestion – including by taking through traffic away from Mottram, Stalybridge and High Peak – and improve air quality.

“It’s vital that the new route works best for drivers, residents and businesses who use this key road every day. I’d encourage everyone to have their say on this road’s future, and I look forward to seeing plans progress.”

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England’s chief executive, said: “Our plans for a new road around Mottram will help local communities by taking traffic away from the village, and we value your views to help make it happen.”

The consultation closes on December 17.

Following consideration of the responses, Highways England will submit a development consent order (DCO) application in the spring.

If the DCO application is successful, and the Secretary of State for Transport grants the final approval, highways chiefs expect to start construction work in 2023.

Comments on the plans can be made by visiting https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/a57-link-roads/.

Images of the current A57 Link Road proposals courtesy of Highways England

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