Greater Manchester’s Transport Update

Here is all the news you need about this week’s transport stories from the Manchester World team.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World. My name is Theo Hewson-Bet and this is your transport update for the week.

00:05Now we're going to dive straight in and start with the clash between the vicar of an Altrincham church and a town hall higher-ups

00:11because attendance at the church has dwindled from 100 down to 60 due to changes to the roads nearby.

00:17Traffic restrictions have meant that people attending the church have to drive an extra half mile to get into the car park

00:22and that's due to sort of one-way streets around the area.

00:24The church has had to cancel Sunday school and a children's nursery on a Friday

00:28and double yellow lines on the streets around the church are not helping.

00:31This massively impacts the elderly who need to drive and can't rely on bikes or walking

00:35but the council have argued that consultation was carried out by the traffic council before the decision was made.

00:41It's unclear how the situation is going to progress.

00:44Sticking with the roads, there are talks ongoing about a substantial motorway upgrade of the notoriously traffic-laden Simister Island.

00:50The project would affect the M60, the M62 and the M66 routes

00:55A northern loop would be built to allow traffic to flow rather than relying on the current traffic-like controlled roundabout

01:01which affects thousands of motorists each day.

01:03A five-lane section of the M60 between junctions 17 and 18 would be introduced.

01:08New lanes would also be added to the M66 and M60.

01:11With over 90,000 vehicles using the Simister Island interchange each day,

01:14this would be a massive benefit to those driving through the area.

01:18On to trams now and crashes between Metrolink trams and cars increased by 30% in 2024.

01:23There were 51 crashes, almost one per week.

01:26Transport for Greater Manchester bosses have said that tram drivers are not to blame,

01:29alleging that most of the crashes are coming courtesy of motorists not paying enough attention.

01:34Several campaigns have already been run to try and educate drivers in the area

01:37and more will be done to ensure that crashes don't increase again in 2025.

01:42That's all for now. Follow Manchester World for more and we'll see you again soon.