UDP - Part 1 : Strategic Overview - Transportation
Unitary Development Plan
Chapter 2
Transportation
Key
| 2.31 | The established all purpose highway network in Tameside is characterised by two major east-west routes extending from the City of Manchester to cross the Pennines, based on the A635 and its connecting roads and on the A57 further south. These are intersected in Ashton, Hyde and Denton town centres by the A627 and A6017 north-south routes linking large towns on the eastern side of the conurbation. The motorway network reinforces the more southerly of the east-west corridors from Denton to Mottram, and the north-south route from Stockport to Denton, connecting Tameside to the national motorway network and to Manchester International Airport. |
| 2.32 | Movement patterns within the Borough are complex, due to the multi-centred nature of the area and the strong links with other towns within the conurbation. The highest 24 hour vehicle flows occur on the M66, the first section of the M67 east from there, the A635 through Ashton and the A57 between Mottram and Hollingworth. |
| 2.33 | Two east-west rail routes, with a third splitting off at Hyde North, provide regular local passenger links from several parts of Tameside to Manchester city centre and across the Pennines. Stalybridge acts as the Borough's longer distance passenger railhead, although many services pass through without stopping. The area has a greater than average number of households without access to private transport and the local bus system is therefore of great importance. There is an extensive network of over 70 local bus routes focused particularly on Ashton and Hyde town centres, where there are large, conveniently located bus stations. The bus system is still experiencing a relatively high provision of services during the daytime period, but the number of passenger miles continues to fall, within a climate of steadily rising fares and an ageing fleet. |
| 2.34 | The geography of the railway system places Guide Bridge at a very advantageous position in relation to the national network, with easy connections to the major north-south routes on both the western and eastern sides of the country and to the Holyhead / Liverpool to Humberside east-west routes. At the same time, Guide Bridge is centrally placed for road access not only to the rest of Tameside and East Manchester but also to wider parts of the North West and Yorkshire. The presence of substantial areas of sidings and development land alongside the railway at this point therefore provides the clear potential to create a rail based freight transfer facility or inland port, to operate in association with services to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel or to other destinations. |
| 2.35 | The Council has long campaigned for greater and overdue investment in the Borough's highway network and its links to other parts of the country, in order to stimulate economic regeneration and relieve certain areas from the effects of heavy traffic. These aspirations are slowly being met through the opening of the M66 from Stockport to Denton in 1989 and its programmed extension to Ashton and on to Middleton in 1996, which will complete the Manchester Outer Ring Road. The preparation of the much needed Mottram - Hollingworth by-pass scheme had reached the stage by November 1992 of public consultation on alternative lines, and studies are continuing into the possible upgrading of the A628 Woodhead route. |
| 2.36 | Traffic conditions are approaching saturation in peak periods at certain points in the Borough and there are a number of regular congestion spots, particularly on the approaches to town centres. Although the M66 extension will relieve existing north-south routes of longer distance through traffic, it will generate additional movement on feeder roads in a local network which has suffered historically from relative lack of investment. The effects of ever increasing traffic levels include the time lost through congestion and its impact on business activity, the safety of road users and especially pedestrians, the disturbance caused to residents particularly by heavy vehicles, the impact on the environment through pollution and energy consumption, and the difficulties presented to efficient operation of buses. |
| 2.37 | Government policy on transportation in recent years has been concerned mostly with road building, where the aims are to assist economic growth by reducing transport costs, to improve the environment by removing through traffic from unsuitable roads and to enhance road safety. Their response to forecasts of up to 142% growth in traffic by 2025 has been to expand the trunk road programme so as to reduce congestion on the major inter-urban routes. Government policy on public transport has been to contain the extent of fare subsidy and to increase competition in operation, although more so with buses than rail up to now. |
| 2.38 | Transportation issues do not of course stop at Borough boundaries and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities has concluded that a balanced transportation strategy, in terms of modes and land use, is essential for this area over the next decade. However, whilst there appears to be growing recognition of the necessity for an acceptable public transport alternative to increasing car use in large urban areas, immediate improvement of local bus and rail systems is difficult to achieve. Under present arrangements the Council can have little influence on the perceived costs or the level and quality of transport, each of which helps to determine individual choice about mode of travel, although road pricing is beginning to appear on the agenda in some parts of the country. |
Page last updated: 5 September 2006