Tag Archives: travel

Who Benefits from the Carrington Relief Road?

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Not current or new local communities in the surrounding areas, who will suffer from significantly increased traffic, more congestion and the health consequences of air, noise, light, vibration, dust and water pollution, many homes will also be at a considerable risk of flooding

Not horse riders, walkers or cyclists who frequently use the traffic-free routes on, across and around Carrington Moss, whose current safe, healthy and very pleasant trips will be fractured by huge volumes of traffic, they will be required to walk or ride alongside hundreds of highly polluting vehicles, travelling at speed, which will be unsafe, unhealthy and very unpleasant

Not the red listed birds or the endangered wildlife species that breed and feed on Carrington Moss, their homes will be destroyed, their foraging corridors shattered, their lives at risk as victims of roadkill

Government data makes it clear that there are many households in the area which do not have access to a car.  Building a new road will not benefit them at all (but they will still suffer the health consequences of increased pollution that are caused by others driving through their areas).

Over the past almost 10 years, despite confirming that this area is poorly served by public transport, Trafford has been unwilling to explore more sustainable alternatives, such as those proposed by the Friends of Carrington Moss.

We hope you will support our campaign to remove the Eastern part of the Carrington Relief Road (CRR) from the plans.  This will bring numerous benefits to local communities and users of the moss and will reduce the costs to the public purse. 

The submission of a planning application for the road is expected before Christmas.  Once it has been validated by Trafford’s planning team, the documents will be made public, and the Friends of Carrington Moss will review them over the following couple of weeks.  We’ll share our findings on social media, in our newsletter and at our online public meeting.

In the meantime, please follow, like and share our posts on social media and don’t hesitate to send any comments you may have to friendsofcarringtonmoss@gmail.com.

No Planning Permission – No Protection!

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Julie Hay

Have you noticed changes taking place on and around Carrington Moss?  These changes largely involve the removal and loss of natural habitat or longstanding features of the landscape.  Some are taking place without any planning permission or council oversight at all. 

Residents have noticed changes on Isherwood Rd (on the left as you drive in from the A6144). A large vehicle was observed removing hedgerow recently.  The site was left with ground disturbed and an electric fence installed. 

Many hedgerows are considered to be protected priority habitat.  They are vital for a wide range of species, including birds, insects, and mammals, and provide essential movement and feeding corridors for wildlife.  Because of their high ecological value, the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of hedgerows are typically a material consideration in planning decisions.  Yet, if there is no planning application, there is no protection and no consideration of the Hedgerows Regulations 1997.  Hedges and trees also protect the land from soil erosion and flooding, particularly in areas that are subject to significant surface water flooding, like Carrington Moss. 

Sadly, this hedgerow destruction is not the only example.  The temporary road to the planned Battery Storage System (BESS) will also damage the natural environment.  That environmental damage will be carried out under ‘permitted development’ rules.  This is development which requires no planning permission, there is much less oversight and NO environmental assessment!  So, huge harm to the deep peat in the area, perhaps impacting the wider mossland, no protection for wildlife and birds or the habitats they use for breeding and feeding.  The BESS itself will be adjacent to a Grade A site of biological importance, and the developer identified 79 bird species that will be impacted by their scheme.

Elsewhere on the moss, despite alternatives that would reduce car use to their site, MUFC has created an overspill car park on productive Grade 2 agricultural land, without any planning permission, again impacting wildlife corridors and the land used by red listed ground nesting birds, such as the skylark. 

In addition, numerous large established trees were felled at the back of the National Grid site, leading to the forestry Commission posting notices forbidding any further tree felling activity without permission. 

Nearby, the copse at the junction of Carrington Lane and the Spur Road has been stripped of its trees and shrubs, degrading the land before any potential planning application is submitted.  The remnants of this vital former bird and wildlife corridor can be seen opposite the Mersey Farm pub

So, biodiversity can be seriously harmed without a planning application being put forward and this is all happening in addition to the destruction of the natural environment that will be caused by the proposed developments on and around Carrington Moss, including the Carrington Relief Road. 

It cannot be sustainable to further deplete the populations of threatened or endangered species.  And it is not only the birds and wildlife that suffer, without those trees and hedgerows, where do you think all that water will go???  Your homes and gardens, your health and wellbeing could be seriously impacted – so continue to share your photographs of all the damage being caused on and around Carrington Moss and let your councillors know what YOU think. 

Poor Public Transport for the New Carrington Allocation Area

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Lorraine Eagling

The Bee Network High Frequency Routes Map shows all the routes in Greater Manchester that have buses or trams every 12 minutes or less. 

It is disappointing to see that, compared to the rest of Greater Manchester, Trafford has the least number of high frequency buses.  Whilst all the other boroughs have at least two high frequency services, Trafford’s only frequent service is from Manchester City Centre to the Trafford Centre.

It probably comes as no surprise to the residents of Trafford that they have no high frequency buses, especially the residents of Partington, Carrington and Sale West, where the most frequent bus is every 25 minutes in rush hour, every half an hour during the day and every hour in the evening.

Residents are failed again

New Carrington will be the largest development in Greater Manchester, with 5,000 new homes and 350,000 square metres of industrial/warehousing across Carrington, Partington and Sale West. Despite what is set out in Appendix D of the Places for Everyone Plan, there is no formal commitment to invest in any public transport infrastructure. No trams, no trains (despite the former railway lines running through the allocation area) and no commitment to additional bus services.

The only transport commitment for New Carrington is the £132 million Carrington Relief Road.

In fact, according to the New Carrington Transport Strategy 2023, (page 63), bus services will “fall short of the currently unachievable addition of around 25 – 30 new buses which would be required for a fully sustainable Scenario 3, and which would enable a reasonably comprehensive network, along with 15-minute headway service to both Stretford and Sale Metrolink stations”.  So, not only is there no commitment to public transport infrastructure investment but the proposed bus service will be inadequate for a development of this size.

Residents of Carrington, Partington and Sale West were promised improved public transport connections in Trafford Council’s 2006 UPD and in the 2012 local plan.  These improvements never materialised and, despite the size and scale of the allocation, and the opportunity to finally deliver these promises, what we have seen is a clear lack of ambition to achieve what is required by the regulations, sustainable development!

An Unsustainable Development

As mentioned above, the only actual commitment for transport in New Carrington is the £132million Carrington Relief Road. This road is not only expensive, but will not benefit existing communities, particularly in Partington and Sale West as we have set out in our previous blog.

As the public transport options will NOT be ‘reasonably comprehensive’, New Carrington will be unsustainable, car dependent sprawl that causes huge amounts of harm to our natural capital assets.

In most cases, residents in New Carrington will face the higher costs of car dependent living. For those who do not have a car, their ability to enter paid employment or the training needed to secure a well-paid job, is constrained by the lack of local public transport options. Also, local public amenities are already oversubscribed, so, once the housing developments are occupied, residents will have to have to travel further afield to access schools, doctors, dentists etc.

Increased Air Pollution

The Carrington Relief Road is forecast to induce more motor traffic into the area, with the Environmental Impact Scoping Report confirming (paragraph 14.46) “Traffic flows are likely to increase due to the improved desirability of the route”. 

The Let Manchester Breath Coalition’s response to the GM Clean Air Plan shows that Greater Manchester consistently has the highest levels of Nitrogen Dioxide in the country, car ownership is increasing well above the national average and Manchester ranks in the top ten for highest number of emergency admissions and deaths for lung conditions across the UK.

Air pollution is a public health emergency, so it is inconceivable that the only transport infrastructure for the largest development in Greater Manchester is a £132 million ‘relief’ road, that will be built on Grade 2 agricultural land.  It will impact 15 sites of biological importance and a site of special scientific interest, along with woodland and wetland habitats.  It will also damage (or lead to the destruction of) a 335-hectare peat moss that has the potential to absorb five times more carbon than a forest of an equivalent size. This is a complete betrayal of future generations.

Meeting Targets Will Be Impossible

Furthermore, the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy set out the “ambition to improve the transport system so that – by 2040 – 50% of all journeys in Greater Manchester are made by public transport or active travel“. 

Car centric developments like New Carrington will make it impossible for the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy’s target to be met. 

It certainly feels like the residents of Greater Manchester are being failed.  Economic growth and profit are being put before public health and equality? Compare Andy Burnham’s plans for GM with those of David Skaith, the Mayor of North Yorkshire, who has said he will prioritise improving public transport in the region rather than campaigning for the A64 to be dualled!

Yorkshire has the opportunity to achieve sustainable development, New Carrington certainly does not!

Call for Action 2 – Carrington Relief Road!

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There have been numerous concerns raised about the route of the Carrington ‘Relief’ Road across Carrington Moss, as it will cause significant harms to both human and wildlife populations and several of our members have suggested that there is a significant lack of awareness shown by those making the decisions about this proposal. 

With this in mind, we hope you will all join us on a walk along the public rights of way near to the Carrington Moss part of the route for the new road.  We plan to meet on Dainewell Park on Saturday 8th February at 2pm. 

We’d like you to invite your Councillors and your MP to join us on the walk, so we can share our concerns.  If you are not sure who your Councillors or your MP are, click on this link to find out.  You just need to put in your post code and, hey presto, the information is there.  When the details come up, you will see a link at the right-hand side which says “Write to all your Councillors”.  You can drop them a note and invite them to come along.  If you click on your MP’s name, you can also send an email to him inviting him to come along and hear your concerns about the road.  The more invitations the politicians receive, the more likely they are to join us on the walk.

As we mentioned in our previous blog (Call for Action 1 Respond to the Consultation), the Friends of Carrington Moss welcome the long-awaited opening of the A1 route through the employment area of Carrington, but all HGVs should be required to use that route, rather than travelling along the A6144 through Carrington Village.  The CRR consultation confirms that “HGVs will not be banned on the A6144” but this should be challenged in consultation responses. 

It is disgraceful that Trafford Council have enabled the current situation being experienced by Trafford residents living in Carrington, including the air, noise, light and vibration pollution they are suffering day and night.  During the past more than 10 years of planning for unviable and unsustainable growth here, Trafford Council has not identified and/or committed funding for sustainable passenger and freight transport solutions for the area.  This is particularly shocking given the anticipated number of HGVs using local roads each day, including those that will carry hazardous materials.  There are various alternative options Trafford could have considered, including using the former railway lines, the Manchester Ship Canal and the potential to deploy pipelines (there are several of these in the area already)!

We do, though, have major concerns about the part of the route which runs across Carrington Moss.  Not just because of the impact it will cause to Sale West residents and the lack of benefits to surrounding communities, but also because of the harm it will cause to the 335-hectare peat moss (described by Natural England as irreplaceable and restorable), the productive Grade 2 agricultural land, the extensive woodland and the wetland habitats.  All of which are essential to a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.  The road, and the wider plans for New Carrington, will also significantly impact 15 sites of biological importance and a site of special scientific significance.

Click here to join our online public meeting on 28th January at 6pm to discuss these issues further.  All are welcome.

Finally, despite highlighting previous inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information in CRR materials, the consultation resources (letters and website) have yet more examples.  We will be requesting a further Call for Action from local communities.  Look out for our next blog for more information on this.

Call for Action 1 – Carrington Relief Road!

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Respond to the Consultation

As the first Carrington Relief Road (CRR) consultation goes live today (20th January 2025), we are issuing our first Call for Action to local communities.  Please take the time to respond and encourage friends and family to participate too.

The consultation period includes some face-to-face sessions, and we hope you will be able to attend one of these.  Just a reminder that the current CRR team are NOT responsible for the decisions made in the past and that they have been directed to give a very limited scope to the consultation, which is only based on the design of the road! 

The inadequacies of this consultation have been determined by Trafford Council, and they have repeatedly rejected our requests for communities to be able to influence the wider aspects of transport solutions for the area – our next Call for Action will address this failure (see below).

This consultation ends on 28th February.  Your inputs are extremely important, so do click on this link to read Trafford’s materials and submit your own response.  We will be discussing this consultation at our next online public meeting on 28th January (6pm), the link to the meeting is here and all are very welcome to join us.

At the meeting, we will highlight some of the key points to consider, which include the following:

  • there are two parts to the Carrington Relief Road (CRR):
    • we are totally supportive of the upgrading of the A1 route in Carrington (this runs through the employment zone from Isherwood Road to the A6144 near Saica Paper), all HGVs should be encouraged to use this road, rather than the A6144 through Carrington Village – this could have come forward years ago without any objections!

    • we are totally against the development of the road across Carrington Moss and have been proposing our alternative to Trafford for the last 4 years, without success – they are only interested in promoting the CRR, despite its escalating costs – it is a commitment to support development – not a solution aimed at benefiting existing communities
  • how the current design ‘benefits’ communities:
    • Carrington residents will only benefit from this new road if through-traffic and HGVs are unable to use the A6144 through the village, with appropriate traffic calming mechanisms put in place (otherwise, residents here will just be surrounded by constant traffic and the associated pollutant impacts)

    • Partington and Warburton residents will, sadly, not benefit from the scheme – Trafford has acknowledged that the road will induce additional traffic, much of which is likely to continue through Partington and Warburton, seeking an alternative route to the motorways, furthermore, given the low levels of car ownership in Partington, a new road will not reduce the isolation of this community (unlike a tram/train connection)

    • Sale West residents will be the most negatively affected by the scheme, they will suffer from huge increases to air, noise, light, vibration and water pollution, a significant, intensified and more frequent risk of local flooding, and the loss of the current safe, healthy and pleasant traffic-free recreational routes – we recognise that the recorded and unrecorded public rights of way will still be there, but, with the road solution, residents will be walking, cycling and horse riding next to the over 40,000 motor vehicles expected to use the road each day (including over 3,000 HGVs) – the number of vehicles will significantly increase from the current traffic numbers due to the proposed developments in the area and the induced traffic using the road as a ‘rat-run’!

    • Urmston residents will not benefit from the scheme either, but they are also likely to see an increase in traffic on their local roads and the risk of local flooding will increase due to the loss of water capture and storage on Carrington Moss (we do not believe the proposed attenuation ponds will be sufficient to replace the capacity lost when the road is built)
  • how the design ‘mitigates and compensates for the impact on the natural environment’:
    • the part of the road that cuts across Carrington Moss will severely impact red listed birds (including, for example, the skylark, which is prevalent along the route of the road) and protected/endangered species – we are very saddened by the thought of yet more roadkill!

    • the road will fracture the corridors used by wildlife and birds to access food and water sources – this will result in further depletion of their species

    • the road will also damage the peat moss (a restorable 335-hectare irreplaceable habitat according to Natural England) and the sites of biological importance/site of special scientific interest, even where these are not directly impacted – this is because of the changes to hydrology that will be required to keep the road water-free

    • it is likely that Trafford will consider that the attenuation ponds will replace the immense water capture and storage functionality of the moss – we think they underestimate the level of water captured here and this could lead to huge risks for local communities

    • Trafford is also likely to assume that these pond areas will create biodiversity gains, but what must be considered is that the losses will be experienced immediately, whereas any gains could take years to deliver, and, in that time, species will be lost to the area forever

    • the road will also impact the potential opportunities to support the Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    • the loss of productive Grade 2 agricultural land will impact future food security as this cannot be replaced elsewhere in Trafford
  • how the design constrains the development of the New Carrington Masterplan which is currently under development and covers the whole allocation area:
    • the CRR will significantly restrict and constrain what is possible in terms of recreational, ecological and natural capital benefits for the Sale West area, considerably increasing the inequities of access to green space for residents

    • the Natural Infrastructure Strategy underpinning the Masterplan has not yet even been discussed – this should determine the approach to mitigation and compensation for environmental and ecological harms to be caused across the allocation area (including the cumulative harms) – such issues should not be addressed as piecemeal solutions for individual developments, including the CRR.

Whilst we are keen for residents to respond as constructively as possible to this consultation, we also need to recognise that Trafford has not given communities the opportunity to influence either:

  • the choice of transport options for this area (why weren’t we asked if we wanted trams or trains, given the size and scale of the developments they are proposing, the number of years this has been under consideration, and the sheer common sense that we should make full use of the former railway lines running through the allocation area and the proximity of the Manchester Ship Canal?), or
  • the route options for the road.

You might want to mention this in the final section of the response questionnaire (headed “Further Comments / Queries), but with these things in mind, there will be a future Call for Action from local communities to address the total lack of previous consultation about the CRR. 

Look out for our next blog for more community action on the Carrington Relief Road Consultation.

Unsustainable New Carrington – “Trapped Behind the Wheel”

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by Lorraine Eagling

Where we live and how we get around are key to what shapes our everyday lives.  A recent New Economics Foundation (NEF) report ‘Trapped Behind the Wheel’ found that

“far from moving our economy towards sustainability and improved wellbeing, England’s new homes in recent years have increasingly encouraged car-dependent lifestyles.

One factor in this change has been the outsized share of new homes being built in rural areas, which has risen continually across the country in recent years”.

New Carrington will be one of these car and HGV-dependent developments that will not be sustainable, nor will it deliver improved wellbeing for new and existing residents.  The majority of the housing and warehousing will be located on grade 2 agricultural land and part of a restorable 335 hectare peatmoss! 

Despite the proximity of New Carrington to Partington, Carrington and Sale West, there is currently a lack of adequate public transport and no committed funding for new public transport infrastructure.  In fact, there are no plans to connect New Carrington to the water, rail or tram network, despite the allocation being adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal, having former railway lines running through the site and it being the largest development in Greater Manchester.

The Council are pushing ahead with this plan regardless of the experience of the past 15 years, which shows us that, without substantial changes and investment into new public transport infrastructure, there is a major risk of locking in increased car and HGV dependency for decades to come.

As a result, Trafford Council and the Government will not be able to deliver priorities such as

Bringing the cost of living down to more manageable levels, reducing spatial inequality and responding adequately to the climate emergency

In most cases, residents in New Carrington will face the higher costs of car dependent living. Their ability to enter paid employment or the training needed to secure a well-paid job is constrained by the availability of local public transport infrastructure.  

Although there are plans to improve bus services as part of the masterplan, Partington, Carrington and Sale West have seen bus services reduce significantly over recent years, so any increase in services provides no net gain overall. 

“A 2021 study demonstrated that in ‘left-behind’ neighbourhoods, which have high deprivation and poor social infrastructure provision, public transport is worse than average (74% have no railway station and bus journeys per capita have declined faster than the national average). Residents are less able to afford to compensate by owning a car (40% of households have no car, compared with 26% across England). These areas of the country typically have worse connectivity than the English average but rely more than other parts of the country on their local bus service”. (Emmet Kiberd, Benedikt Straňák, NEF, November 2024)

So, why is there no commitment to invest in new public transport infrastructure such as reopening the rail line between Irlam and Timperley?  Part of the answer may lie in the following figures.

“The public transport system in wealthier parts of the country, such as London and the south-east, is much more effective and gives residents there far more access to jobs than the equivalents in the north-west, Yorkshire, and parts of the Midlands. Despite this, public investment in transport has tended to overlook the parts of the country where it is most needed. The north of England would have received an additional £51bn in public investment in transport if it had matched the per capita level seen in London from 2014/15 to 2019/20. Similarly, investment in active travel infrastructure between 2016 and 2021 was £24 per person in London but only £10 per person in the rest of England. (Emmet Kiberd, Benedikt Straňák, NEF, November 2024)”

Regardless of the lack in funding in the north for public transport, Trafford Council plan to build a relief road (the name is misleading), with a current cost of £76million, which is very likely to rise! 

Why isn’t this money being used for new public transport infrastructure? If the Government is to deliver on its priorities, when there is a ‘black hole’ in public finances, surely public transport must take priority over road building.

Then, there is another question, why is Trafford pushing ahead with this development when there are other available sites and enough windfall sites over the past four years to provide 40% of the housing target for New Carrington? 

Emmet Kiberd and Benedikt Straňák (NEF, November 2024) suggest the reasons behind these questions are

  • “Favour cheaper greenfield land in a profit-driven housing development system.
  • Relatively lower levels of local political opposition to new developments in more remote areas.
  • A lack of early, integrated planning of transport, housing, and development sites, reinforced by substantial underfunding of public planning departments.

The provision of public transport and active travel for new homes is affected by:

  • The insufficiency of Section 106 funds to cover the public transport needed, together with the lack of negotiating power for councils tends to see transport provision lose out in a trade-off against social housing, community facilities, and other items.
  • The use of large amounts of public funding on expensive road infrastructure alongside new developments, encouraged by a lack of advance transport planning and car-centred approaches.
  • The provision of public transport and active travel for new homes, which is affected by poor public transport and active travel provision in adjacent neighbourhoods, due to congestion and a lack of safe walking and cycling routes”.

Clearly, there is a need for ambitious policies and brave decisions in relation to the New Carrington Masterplan because the second-best solutions that present themselves are unlikely to solve the problems and deliver the priorities that will bring the cost of living down to more manageable levels, reduce spatial inequality and respond adequately to the climate emergency.

Concerned about traffic? Email your Councillors about the Carrington Relief Road!

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Whilst we await the consultation for the Carrington Relief Road (CRR), we continue to collect data and scrutinise the traffic flows in our locality.  Our analysis is very revealing! So, why are we worried about the impact of the CRR? Read on to understand our concerns.  Contact your Councillors if you are concerned too (details of your Councillors can be found here).

Trafford Council has acknowledged that the construction of this £76million road is not for the benefit of existing residents (as stated in their Carrington Relief Road Environmental Impact Scoping Report)

“1.2. The key objective of the new Carrington Relief Road is to provide sufficient capacity within the transport network to deliver growth of housing and employment in the wider New Carrington masterplan area, and realise the socio-economic benefits of the future development. The redevelopment of this Site provides an opportunity to deliver a new link road for Trafford that will facilitate future phased development of c.5,000 new homes and 360,000sqm employment floorspace”.

Unfortunately, existing residents will be adversely affected by the new road as demonstrated below.  Yet, if monies were invested in public transport infrastructure, as previously promised in the local plan, there would be far greater health, economic and social benefits for both existing and new residents, not to mention the preservation of an area that supports climate mitigation, nature’s recovery and future food security.

So, why are there no plans to invest in train/tram infrastructure in what is the largest development in the Places for Everyone Plan?  It is described as the single largest regeneration scheme in the North West by Andrew Western, MP for Stretford and Urmston in his comment supporting the Wain Estates Case Study here.

Trafford Council’s Local Plan 2012 proposed to deliver “significant improvements to public transport infrastructure by improving access to Partington, the Regional Centre and Altrincham with links to the Metrolink system”.   The New Carrington Masterplan presents the perfect opportunity to deliver these much-needed improvements by directing the funding into schemes that already had the backing of the local businesses, Councils and the community, such as reopening the Cadishead Viaduct.  More information on that initiative can be found here.

Whilst we understand that funding is an issue and the Council are reliant on contributions from developers and the government, these types of schemes are long-term, sustainable solutions to the inequalities that exist in Partington, Carrington and Sale West and are a much better use of public money.  It is well documented that roads are short-term, unsustainable options.

We are already experiencing the impact of climate change, with erratic weather patterns leading to localised flooding and crop failure.  The proposals for New Carrington are contrary to Trafford’s declaration of a climate emergency in 2018 and its aims to be net zero by 2038.  The lack of funded sustainable transport options also conflicts with the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040, which has a vision for 50% of trips to be made by sustainable modes, and states (page 8) that “Achieving the Right Mix is expected to lead to zero net growth in motor vehicle traffic in Greater Manchester between 2017 and 2040”). 

How will they meet these targets?

Whilst we acknowledge active travel forms part of the transport intervention in New Carrington, any progress made in getting people to choose active modes will be heavily outweighed by the significant increase in road traffic as described in their scoping report.  Walking cycling or horse riding next to over 3,000 HGVs a day will not be pleasant, safe or healthy!

The Proposed Road  

The western end of the Carrington Relief Road starts opposite the Saica Paper Factory and will run along the existing A1 Road behind Carrington Village.  This road is to be upgraded as part of the scheme.  The eastern end of the Relief Road will be constructed across Carrington Moss, from Isherwood Road to the junction of the Spur Road and Banky Lane. 

The cost of the overall scheme is currently estimated at £76 million but could rise due to the increased cost of materials, the need to address contamination and the complexity of building on or near to a 335 hectare peatmoss (hydrology issues will need to be tackled – depending on the final route).

In responding to Trafford’s ‘engagement event’ (which took place in 2021), in advance of the release of the CRR route options report, we put forward a proposal that would reduce HGV traffic through Carrington Village and negate the need to construct an expensive road across Grade 2 agricultural land, woodland and wetland habitats.

We proposed that the existing A1 Road be upgraded and opened up to all heavy goods vehicles to resolve the issue of hundreds of HGVs passing through Carrington Village every day.  We proposed upgrading the existing A6144 between Isherwood Road and the Carrington Spur, which is not at capacity, and reducing speed limits.  We also proposed upgrading the existing active travel routes across Carrington Moss.

Unfortunately, our suggestions (and those of Natural England – a national organisation that advises the government on all issues related to the natural environment), were ignored.  So, we have continued to collect traffic data and here is a summary of our findings:

Induced Traffic

Our most recent surveys focused on the pattern of traffic travelling from the west of Partington towards the M60. 

During term time, the total number of cars travelling from Warburton, Warrington and Lymm into Partington is 69% of the total number of cars recorded leaving Partington in the direction of Carrington.  During school holidays, this figure is 63%.  This shows that the majority of the traffic travelling through Partington towards Carrington is coming from outside the area.  The volume of this induced traffic will increase (as described in Trafford’s own Environmental Scoping Report – “Traffic flows are likely to increase due to the improved desirability of the route” paragraph 14.46)

What proportion of traffic will benefit from the new road

At the Manchester Road/Isherwood Road and Carrington Spur/Banky Lane junctions term time figures have been used, when traffic is highest.  Full details of our surveys can be found here and here.

  • During term time 37% of the traffic coming from the M60 is headed towards Carrington.
  • During term time 40% of the traffic from Sale West is headed towards Carrington
  • During term time 53% of the traffic from M60 or Sale West is headed towards Flixton.

The traffic headed towards Flixton would not use the relief road, so ……

….. only 18.1% (an average of 47% of 37% and 47% of 40%) of the traffic from the M60 and Sale West would use the new relief road.

Furthermore – during term time ……

….. only 32% of the traffic from Partington and Carrington heading towards the M60 would use the new road, as the rest of the traffic is headed towards Flixton.

Let’s think about that – only 18.1% of the traffic from the M60 and Sale West and only 32% of the traffic from Partington and Carrington would use the CRR – yet the Council is proposing to spend £76m on an outdated, unsustainable road-based solution!

Remember:

  • Congestion in Partington will increase significantly and will have a major impact on existing residents. Not only will there be increased induced traffic as described earlier, but the construction of approximately 3600* houses in central Partington, Partington East (which is really Carrington South) and Warburton will put extreme pressure on the road network – note that these numbers do not include the additional homes recently constructed or still to be built in other parts of Partington (Lock Lane, Oak Lane, Hall Lane).
  • Congestion from Sale West to the M60 at the Banky Lane Junction is the heaviest of all routes during peak times.  This will increase significantly due to induced traffic from the relief and the construction of 1450* houses in Sale West.

* Figures taken from the GMCA Joint Development Plan paragraph 11.381.

Having your say!

If you wish to express your opinion regarding this matter, the public consultation for the Carrington Relief Road is due to commence in the coming weeks.  You can also join the discussions at our monthly online public meetings – you will find the link to the next meeting here.  As mentioned above, you can also email your local Councillors to outline your concerns.