Controversial plans for new cycle lanes along a busy Salford road have been scrapped after fears of ‘catastrophic delays’ for local residents.
Salford council’s Peel Green active travel scheme, based on a stretch of the A57 Liverpool Road, aimed to build cycle lanes on both sides of the residential street which is near junction 11 at the M60.
It would have reduced the road layout from three lanes to single lanes in each direction for two-lane traffic.
These changes were drawn up by the council after ‘longstanding requests’ from residents about having problems turning into side roads across three lanes of traffic.
Liverpool Road is a key route from Irlam and Cadishead towards Eccles, the M60 at junction 11, and Salford city centre.
A four-week trial was held in 2022 where the middle lane on the road was removed, and a survey found this added 30 seconds to journey times between Barley Farm and Peel Green roundabout.
But there were claims that drivers who used the road during the trial were left ‘queuing for an hour’ to leave the area during busy times.
A petition was signed by some 3,000 people raising concerns against the scheme and calling for it to be scrapped.
The petition raised fears about traffic levels as well as the potential impact of heavy goods vehicles using the road to get to the motorway.
It stated: ‘The increase in traffic will affect people and their ability to get to work. Getting back for childcare after work will be near impossible, which could see some leave their employment if the commute becomes unmanageable.’
In the face of huge backlash, council officers in Salford recommended that the legal notice for the scheme should not be approved.
A council report set out the reasons: ‘Given the volume of negative responses, coupled with lack of supporting responses for the scheme from the local community, the outcome of the engagement indicates that there is no local support for the Peel Green Active Travel scheme at this time.’
The decision not to approve the legal notice was confirmed by Councillor Mike McCusker, the council’s lead member for transport, during a public meeting which was held online today (March 11).
Speaking at the meeting, a Salford council officer said funding for the work was aimed at driving a ‘modal shift from cars to active travel’ in the city, but pointed out that there had been more than 1,000 objections made against the Peel Green active travel scheme.
Two residents spoke against the plans at the meeting, along with some local councillors.
One resident said the trial in 2022 caused ‘havoc’ on Liverpool Road with long queues of traffic in the area.
They added: “To reduce the capacity of the road by 50 per cent would cause catastrophic delays and misery for all residents concerned.”
Councillor Lewis Nelson said the road is a ‘significant route for the wider road network’ and that Irlam and Cadishead suffer from extra traffic during motorway incidents.
He added: “Please side with the thousands of residents whose lives would be made significantly worse with the lane reductions.”
Councillor Mishal Saeed said the scheme had ‘caused a lot of anxiety and frustration for residents’ living in the area, and that there were many anecdotal stories of how lane reductions had previously caused major travel disruption.
Weighing up the proposals, Mike McCusker said that Greater Manchester ‘needs to see a real shift’ in transport methods, stressing that fewer cars on the roads benefits everyone.
But he agreed not to approve the legal notice in light of the concerns raised, effectively killing the Peel Green active travel scheme.
Coun McCusker added: “There’s clearly a lot of opposition to this from local people, and from not so local people too.”
Funding for the proposals would have come from the City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), money from the government to improve local transport networks.
Salford council said it will now have to ‘consider repurposing the CRSTS funding to deliver alternative projects elsewhere.’
Future changes on Liverpool Road would be ‘subject to a new bid should funding be available.’
People living along the road told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) last week that the scheme is widely unpopular, but that traffic congestion is a major problem.
Richard Clarke, 47, said he couldn’t imagine cyclists using the road even if the new cycle lanes were built.
He added: “It’s pointless, it’s all the disruption [it would cause], and if the road is narrower it would be even worse than it is now for traffic. It’s always busy but it’s worse from 2pm up until around 6.30.”
Another resident, an 82-year-old who gave her name as Pat, said: “I think it’s going to be a disaster, everyone is upset about it. I don’t think it’s a good idea, the traffic is bad enough as it is, and I think this could make it even worse.”
Harry Gray, from active travel campaign group Walk Ride GM, had urged the council to stand by its plans ahead of today’s meeting.
He told the LDRS last week: “It happens with every single scheme like this, when it goes to consultation people do not want change, and they say they don’t want it. But councils need to understand that delivering these schemes is popular in the long run once we get over the hill of hysteria.
“When Greater Manchester’s population goes up by a million what will people do? It will only get worse, and that’s why politicians have to make difficult decisions.”
