Plans to transform Stockport Bus Station into an eye-catching and modern transport interchange, with roof top park and residential development, have been approved by Stockport Council’s Planning and Highways Regulation Committee.
Along with funding also being secured for a new cycling and walking bridge which would link the interchange with Stockport rail station, the project will form a key part of a wider £1 billion regeneration of the town centre.
Located alongside the A6 and Mersey Square, the multi-million pound development will be funded by Transport for Greater Manchester, Stockport Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), with support from central government through the Greater Manchester Local Growth Deal programme.
The interchange will have a fully accessible, covered passenger concourse with seated waiting areas, Travelshop for tickets and travel advice, and both bus and train travel information screens.
Other features will include accessible toilets, complete with baby changing facilities and a ‘Changing Places’* toilet, and enhanced CCTV coverage.
The other main element of the development will be a residential building off Daw Bank with up to 200 apartments and associated car parking, offering further attractive high-quality living space in the town centre.
The transport hub will be connected to the A6 by a lift, which will also open out onto the new, two-acre public park on the roof of the interchange building, next to the residential block. Accessible directly from the A6, the park will bring much-needed green space to the town centre.
The cycle- and foot-bridge linking the development and railway station, via the park, was today confirmed as benefiting from the Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund – a wider £160m package that will see 42 new cycling and walking schemes delivered across Greater Manchester.
The interchange project will also see the upgrading of a nearby section of the Trans Pennine Trail alongside the River Mersey and associated secure cycle parking.
Building on Stockport’s already first-class connectivity, the interchange, residential development and park will bolster the success of developments like Stockport Exchange and Redrock that are already putting the town on the map as a great place to live, work in and visit.
