Work on the Great Ancoats Street improvement scheme is set to start on Monday 13 January.
The scheme is the first of a number of projects designed to provide long-term improvements to Manchester’s travel infrastructure which will be brought forward in 2020.
The £9.1m Great Ancoats Street scheme, which will take around 12 months to complete, will improve the look and feel of the area for pedestrians, providing a more natural and attractive link for people wishing to walk between the city centre and the burgeoning Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods.
New crossing facilities are to be installed over the busy road – which is part of the city’s Inner Ring Road and averages more than 37,000 vehicle journeys per day – making it easier to cross and reducing the risk of accidents.
The scheme, which has received funding support from the Greater Manchester Growth Deal and does not create any extra capacity for traffic, includes the planting of more than seventy trees, decluttered, wider pavements and redesigned, clearer signage for simpler navigation – making the area a natural extension of the city centre.
The work will take place in phases, between Oldham Road at its junction with Marshall Street and Cornell Street and along Great Ancoats Street as far as the Metrolink stop at Pollard Street.
The first phase of the work will involve a lane closure either side of the existing island on Oldham Road near to the junction of Great Ancoats Street. Traffic flow will be maintained in both directions and diversions will not be required.
This phase of the project is due to start on Monday 13 January and run until mid-February 2020. Working hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, for this phase.
Two new walking and cycling routes which will run parallel to the Inner Ring Road are also currently being brought forward, with funding support from the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Challenge Fund. The schemes will provide safer alternatives to cycling on the Inner Ring Road, while maintaining traffic flow to deter vehicles from ‘rat-running’ onto residential streets.
A public consultation on the £11m Northern Quarter cycling and walking route – which will run between Victoria and Piccadilly train stations via the thriving Northern Quarter – is already underway and open until mid-February, while a consultation for the £4.2m Eastern and Northern Gateway scheme is set to begin in early 2020.
The Eastern and Northern Gateway scheme will connect the neighbourhoods of Ancoats, New Islington, New Cross, New Town, Redbank and the Green Quarter, creating a high-quality, continuous walking and cycling route for the north and east city centre fringe.
