Longdendale Bypass
Encyclopedia
The Longdendale Bypass was a controversial road scheme in England (abandoned in March 2009) by the Highways Agency
. The aim was to alleviate traffic congestion on the A57 road
/A628 road
/A616 road
routes that presently pass through the villages. There is both strong support and opposition for this long-planned scheme which would have passed through the valley of Longdendale
and part of the Peak District National Park.
The road scheme is no longer being progressed by the Highways Agency, and a scaled down proposal by Tameside Borough Council was not included in the list of schemes eligible for central Government funding.
connects the M67
from Manchester
to the M1
in South Yorkshire
. A single-carriageway road through the villages of Mottram in Longdendale
, Hollingworth
and Tintwistle
and through the Peak District National Park, it is used by a relatively large number of heavy goods vehicles. Supporters of the scheme say that the A628 is one of the most congested A-road routes in the country, with high volumes of traffic (including HGVs) using a road which is totally unsuitable for the volume and nature of traffic it carries and that there is no viable alternative to a bypass.
Concern has been raised that the scheme would not have improved safety on the Woodhead Pass, where the majority of serious accidents occur.
The scheme envisaged a new dual carriageway that would have headed north-east from the eastern end of the M67, passed under the A6018 Roe Cross Road, Old Road and Old Hall Lane in a 170 metres (558 ft) tunnel approximately 120 metres (394 ft) north of the point where those roads converge. To the east of this area the route would have continued onto a roundabout which provides for a link road down to the A57
at Mottram Moor. To the east of the roundabout, the Preferred Route would have proceeded north-east through the Swallows Wood
nature reserve, then curved south-east to join the existing A628
east of Tintwistle near Townhead Farm. Another proposed local authority road, the 'Glossop Spur', would have linked to the A57 at Woolley Bridge.
The Department for Transport has published both a map of the immediate area and another showing routes across the Peak District and the location of Flouch, which were scheduled to have associated traffic works. An independently produced overlay for Google maps is also available.
government's Roads for Prosperity
white paper
in 1989 following a public consultation process. A preferred route was selected in October 1993 but work was suspended in 1996 following further government reviews of the national road-building programme work.
In July 1998 the incumbent Labour
government published the results of its own review in the document 'A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England
' and included the bypass as a scheme to be progressed through the preparatory stages. In November 2002, the Highways Agency submitted a report to the Regional Planning bodies (North West, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside). The scheme received support from the communities affected by the bypass in the form of a petition with 9,000 signatures that was delivered to Downing Street in February 2003. In this submission, they formed the conclusion that there were no realistic alternatives to a bypass of the villages to solve the problems that existed. In April 2003 the bypass entered the Targeted Programme of Improvements, recognising the likelihood of increased traffic along the route and including proposals to discourage road users from switching from other cross-Pennine routes.
Under the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) initiative the Highways Agency appointed Mowlem
to take the scheme forward. The ECI allows for detailed planning work to be carried out while the scheme moves through statutory procedures. On 31 January 2006 the Secretary of State for Transport
published formal proposals in the form of Draft Orders to construct the bypass, make good the older roads, and introduce 'route restraint measures'. The public and other interested organisations were allowed a period of 13 weeks until 5 May 2006 to express their opinions on the proposals. In May 2006 the Highways Agency released information under the Freedom of Information Act of all properties they had purchased in connection with the scheme during the previous 30 years, and an updated copy was also released in August 2008.
By the end of the consultation period 1,400 people had written letters expressing their objection to the scheme, with a further 1,000 in favour. Stephen Ladyman
, then Minister of State for Transport, stated that "life for people in Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth should be greatly improved by this bypass. Getting traffic out of the villages will make them a safer and healthier place to live". Objections were also received from the Countryside Agency, English Nature, the Peak District National Park and the National Trust. The North West Regional Assembly
had presented advice to Ministers in January 2006 and then in June 2006 provided a revised sequencing of priority schemes.
On 6 July 2006 the Secretary of State for Transport responded to these revised sequences and confirmed that funding provision could be made for the Longdendale bypass beyond 2010/11. In December 2006 Rebecca Lush
, a long-standing road protester and founder of Road Block, claimed the scheme was "particularly inappropriate and damaging". In January 2007 Stephen Ladyman stated that construction work was expected to start in spring 2013.
The change to the proposed timing and costs required a review of the Environmental Statement, which was duly republished with associated Draft Orders on 8 February 2007. There followed a 6-week consultation period during which the Peak District authority responded. Having been estimated at £90 million in 2003, the cost of the proposal was estimated to have risen to £240–£315m in 2008.
The inquiry opened on the 26 June 2007. On 16 July 2007 the inquiry was adjourned until 4 September with a final deadline for Proofs of Evidence of 14 August 2007. On 11 September 2007 the inquiry was again adjourned until 19 September to allow the Highways Agency to review traffic evidence, with further adjournments until 18 December.
On 4 December 2007 the Highways Agency published Route Restraint Measures - Explanation of the Further Change in the Traffic Forecasts and suggested that this data would not be available until Easter 2008. The inquiry reviewed this new information on 18 December 2007 at which time it was adjourned to allow the Highways Agency to correct their traffic modelling. The inspector commented that "it was the fifth iteration of the traffic model since the original announcement in February 2006". The inquiry was then "Adjourned Indefinitely Pending the Publication of Revised Evidence by The Highways Agency and Tameside MBC".
On 3 March 2008 the Highways Agency responded to queries from the inspector indicating that it expected to have revised evidence available by October 2008.
In September 2008 the Highways Agency indicated that the revised information would now be available for public consultation in May 2009 and that the public inquiry could start again in Autumn 2009.
In February 2009 the Campaign for Better Transport reported that that funding for the road scheme would not be available before 2016.
In March 2009 the Highways Agency announced that it was pulling out of the public inquiry, citing the decision of the Regional Leaders' Forum
, 4NW
, to delay the start of the scheme by at least four years. The accompanying press release stated that "the extended period of time between the publication of the draft proposals for the scheme in 2007 and the earliest date at which the Inquiry might be reconvened" was a further factor in the decision to withdraw.
Some opponents of the scheme also advocate 'Translink' as an alternative proposal, which envisages enabling (through the reopening of the Woodhead Tunnel
) direct rail links between Glossop
and Sheffield
and beyond. Translink claims the "Rolling highway
" would be a quick, safe and cost-effective means of carrying freight across the Pennines, a credible alternative to using the A616/A628 road. HGV vehicles would roll on and roll off the low-floor wagons.
All other routes show a marked increase in traffic, both immediately and over time:
The stated aim of the bypass is to reduce traffic flow along (at least) the A57 and the reviewed environmental statement of February 2007 provided radically different traffic forecasts to the originals summarised above. In particular, the new forecast indicated that there would be over 26,000 vehicles per day travelling along Back Moor. According to the data presented by the Highways Agency, this amount of traffic is greater than that presently using the main A57 Hyde Road through Mottram.
found that the proposed scheme would increase greenhouse gas CO2
pollution in the area by 15,840 tonnes per annum. Furthermore, the costs of the CO2 pollution were not included in the Highways Agency cost–benefit analysis. In the republished Environmental Statement summary, the Highways Agency admit that the scheme will entail "an estimated increase of 9% in emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide". However, in a Statement of the Area address on 21 November 2006, the Leader of Tameside Council announced that 4,500 trees had already been planted, increasing to 10,000 to compensate for the loss of trees when the bypass is built and to help mitigate the increases in CO2 emissions. The council leader also claimed that each tree planted would offset 75 kg of CO2 per annum. This figure—for trees to be planted in northern England—is 3.5 times greater than that for trees planted in tropical rainforests.
In an alternative proposal to the bypass, Translink claim that the removal of HGVs from the A628 onto a cross-Peak train line would save approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Highways Agency
The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...
. The aim was to alleviate traffic congestion on the A57 road
A57 road
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass , around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop...
/A628 road
A628 road
The A628 is a major road in the north of England connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire by crossing the Pennine chain of hills by way of the Woodhead Pass through the Peak District National Park. The height and the exposure of the road often creates problems during poor weather in winter...
/A616 road
A616 road
The A616 is a road which links Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, to the M1 motorway at Junction 30, then reappears at Junction 35A and goes on to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire....
routes that presently pass through the villages. There is both strong support and opposition for this long-planned scheme which would have passed through the valley of Longdendale
Longdendale
Longdendale is a valley in the north of England, north of Glossop and south east of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley".- Geography :...
and part of the Peak District National Park.
The road scheme is no longer being progressed by the Highways Agency, and a scaled down proposal by Tameside Borough Council was not included in the list of schemes eligible for central Government funding.
Background
The existing A628 trunk roadA628 road
The A628 is a major road in the north of England connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire by crossing the Pennine chain of hills by way of the Woodhead Pass through the Peak District National Park. The height and the exposure of the road often creates problems during poor weather in winter...
connects the M67
M67 motorway
The M67 is a urban motorway in Greater Manchester, England which heads east from the M60 motorway passing through Denton and Hyde before ending near Mottram. It had originally conceived as the first part of a trans-Pennine motorway between Manchester and Sheffield connecting the A57 motorway to...
from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
to the M1
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
. A single-carriageway road through the villages of Mottram in Longdendale
Mottram in Longdendale
Mottram in Longdendale is an unparished village within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in the valley of Longdendale, on the border with Derbyshire and close to the Peak District neighbouring Broadbottom and Hattersley. Mottram in Longdendale Parish was...
, Hollingworth
Hollingworth
Hollingworth is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about twelve miles east of Manchester on the Derbyshire border at Glossop...
and Tintwistle
Tintwistle
Tintwistle is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,401. The village is just north of Glossop at the lower end of Longdendale Valley...
and through the Peak District National Park, it is used by a relatively large number of heavy goods vehicles. Supporters of the scheme say that the A628 is one of the most congested A-road routes in the country, with high volumes of traffic (including HGVs) using a road which is totally unsuitable for the volume and nature of traffic it carries and that there is no viable alternative to a bypass.
Concern has been raised that the scheme would not have improved safety on the Woodhead Pass, where the majority of serious accidents occur.
Route
A57 road
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass , around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop...
at Mottram Moor. To the east of the roundabout, the Preferred Route would have proceeded north-east through the Swallows Wood
Swallows Wood
Swallows Wood is a nature reserve near Hollingworth, north Derbyshire. The reserve, which contains semi-natural woodlands, meadows, ponds and marsh areas, is owned by United Utilities who are responsible for its management...
nature reserve, then curved south-east to join the existing A628
A628 road
The A628 is a major road in the north of England connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire by crossing the Pennine chain of hills by way of the Woodhead Pass through the Peak District National Park. The height and the exposure of the road often creates problems during poor weather in winter...
east of Tintwistle near Townhead Farm. Another proposed local authority road, the 'Glossop Spur', would have linked to the A57 at Woolley Bridge.
The Department for Transport has published both a map of the immediate area and another showing routes across the Peak District and the location of Flouch, which were scheduled to have associated traffic works. An independently produced overlay for Google maps is also available.
History
The plans for the bypass date from the 1990s, and were restored in the ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government's Roads for Prosperity
Roads for Prosperity
Roads for Prosperity was a controversial white paper published by the Conservative UK Government in 1989 detailing the 'largest road building program for the UK since the Romans' produced in response to rapid increases in car ownership and use over the previous decade...
white paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
in 1989 following a public consultation process. A preferred route was selected in October 1993 but work was suspended in 1996 following further government reviews of the national road-building programme work.
In July 1998 the incumbent Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government published the results of its own review in the document 'A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England
A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England
A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England was a response to the A New Deal for Transport: Better for everyone report reviewing the UK Government's strategic roads programme based on criteria of accessibility, safety, economy, environment and integration.-Overview:...
' and included the bypass as a scheme to be progressed through the preparatory stages. In November 2002, the Highways Agency submitted a report to the Regional Planning bodies (North West, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside). The scheme received support from the communities affected by the bypass in the form of a petition with 9,000 signatures that was delivered to Downing Street in February 2003. In this submission, they formed the conclusion that there were no realistic alternatives to a bypass of the villages to solve the problems that existed. In April 2003 the bypass entered the Targeted Programme of Improvements, recognising the likelihood of increased traffic along the route and including proposals to discourage road users from switching from other cross-Pennine routes.
Under the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) initiative the Highways Agency appointed Mowlem
Mowlem
Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.-History:Founded by John Mowlem in 1822, the company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1902 and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1924. It acquired SGB Group in...
to take the scheme forward. The ECI allows for detailed planning work to be carried out while the scheme moves through statutory procedures. On 31 January 2006 the Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
published formal proposals in the form of Draft Orders to construct the bypass, make good the older roads, and introduce 'route restraint measures'. The public and other interested organisations were allowed a period of 13 weeks until 5 May 2006 to express their opinions on the proposals. In May 2006 the Highways Agency released information under the Freedom of Information Act of all properties they had purchased in connection with the scheme during the previous 30 years, and an updated copy was also released in August 2008.
By the end of the consultation period 1,400 people had written letters expressing their objection to the scheme, with a further 1,000 in favour. Stephen Ladyman
Stephen Ladyman
Stephen John Ladyman is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010.-Early life:...
, then Minister of State for Transport, stated that "life for people in Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth should be greatly improved by this bypass. Getting traffic out of the villages will make them a safer and healthier place to live". Objections were also received from the Countryside Agency, English Nature, the Peak District National Park and the National Trust. The North West Regional Assembly
North West Regional Assembly
The North West Regional Assembly was the regional assembly for the North West England region of the United Kingdom. It was based at Wigan, in Greater Manchester. It was abolished in July 2008.-Creation and functions:...
had presented advice to Ministers in January 2006 and then in June 2006 provided a revised sequencing of priority schemes.
On 6 July 2006 the Secretary of State for Transport responded to these revised sequences and confirmed that funding provision could be made for the Longdendale bypass beyond 2010/11. In December 2006 Rebecca Lush
Rebecca Lush
Rebecca Lush is an environmental activist who was influential during the 1990s and early 2000s when she helped organise a number of major UK road protests including those against the M3 Extension at Twyford Down, the M11 link road and the Newbury bypass...
, a long-standing road protester and founder of Road Block, claimed the scheme was "particularly inappropriate and damaging". In January 2007 Stephen Ladyman stated that construction work was expected to start in spring 2013.
The change to the proposed timing and costs required a review of the Environmental Statement, which was duly republished with associated Draft Orders on 8 February 2007. There followed a 6-week consultation period during which the Peak District authority responded. Having been estimated at £90 million in 2003, the cost of the proposal was estimated to have risen to £240–£315m in 2008.
Public Inquiry
Details of the Public Inquiry were announced in April 2007. It was to be run by Persona Associates with John Watson as Inspector. An official public inquiry website was launched offering news, transcripts and documentation for download.The inquiry opened on the 26 June 2007. On 16 July 2007 the inquiry was adjourned until 4 September with a final deadline for Proofs of Evidence of 14 August 2007. On 11 September 2007 the inquiry was again adjourned until 19 September to allow the Highways Agency to review traffic evidence, with further adjournments until 18 December.
On 4 December 2007 the Highways Agency published Route Restraint Measures - Explanation of the Further Change in the Traffic Forecasts and suggested that this data would not be available until Easter 2008. The inquiry reviewed this new information on 18 December 2007 at which time it was adjourned to allow the Highways Agency to correct their traffic modelling. The inspector commented that "it was the fifth iteration of the traffic model since the original announcement in February 2006". The inquiry was then "Adjourned Indefinitely Pending the Publication of Revised Evidence by The Highways Agency and Tameside MBC".
On 3 March 2008 the Highways Agency responded to queries from the inspector indicating that it expected to have revised evidence available by October 2008.
In September 2008 the Highways Agency indicated that the revised information would now be available for public consultation in May 2009 and that the public inquiry could start again in Autumn 2009.
In February 2009 the Campaign for Better Transport reported that that funding for the road scheme would not be available before 2016.
In March 2009 the Highways Agency announced that it was pulling out of the public inquiry, citing the decision of the Regional Leaders' Forum
Regional Assemblies in England
The Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
, 4NW
North West Regional Leaders Forum
The North West Regional Leaders Board is the Local Authority Leaders’ Board for the North West England region of the United Kingdom. It was established on 15 July 2008 and replaced the North West Regional Assembly. It initially based at Wigan, in Greater Manchester but has since moved to St Helens...
, to delay the start of the scheme by at least four years. The accompanying press release stated that "the extended period of time between the publication of the draft proposals for the scheme in 2007 and the earliest date at which the Inquiry might be reconvened" was a further factor in the decision to withdraw.
Proponents
- Agencies: UK Government, Highways AgencyHighways AgencyThe Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...
and Department for TransportDepartment for TransportIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
, AGMA (the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities)
- Campaign group: Longdendale Siege Committee
- Individuals: Tom LevittTom LevittTom Levitt is a British Labour Party politician, and was the longest-serving Labour Member of Parliament for High Peak, from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...
and James PurnellJames PurnellJames Mark Dakin Purnell is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010. He is currently the Head of the Open Left project at the left leaning think tank Demos...
(former LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Members of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
whose constituencies formed part of the route), Roy Oldham ( Executive Leader of Tameside), Labour-controlled local authority TamesideTamesideThe Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
and LongdendaleLongdendaleLongdendale is a valley in the north of England, north of Glossop and south east of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley".- Geography :...
Councillors, Chris Webster (Old Glossop Ward Councillor)
Opponents
- Agencies: Campaign to Protect Rural England, Countryside AgencyCountryside AgencyThe Countryside Agency in England was a statutory body set up in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The Agency was formed by merging the Countryside Commission and the Rural Development Commission...
, English NatureEnglish NatureEnglish Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
, Environment AgencyEnvironment AgencyThe Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
, National TrustNational Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural BeautyThe National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, Peak District National Park Authority, Ramblers Association
- Campaign groups: Alternative Proposals for Transport, Save Swallows Wood and Woodhead Against Increased Traffic (WAIT)
- Individuals: Michael ClaphamMichael ClaphamMichael Clapham is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Barnsley West and Penistone from 1992 to 2010.-Early life:...
(former Labour Member of Parliament for Barnsley West and Penistone), the Directors of the Public Health of Greater Manchester
Alternative measures
Opponents of the scheme support the Way to Go initiative from Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which is calling upon Councillors, MPs,and the Peak District National Park to reject the bypass scheme. The campaign group support other measures that it considers would improve local transport without causing damage to the environment. This alternative approach calls for:- Weight restrictions on the A57/628, forcing heavy goods traffic onto the existing M1/M62 motorway network and away from the Peak District National Park. (This has the drawback that the M1/M62 route through West Yorkshire is already one of the most congested pieces of motorway in Britain, in addition to the environmental consequences of almost doubling the distance of a typical Sheffield to Manchester journey.)
- Weight restrictions on the A57/628 but only during rush-hour periods. (Subject to similar considerations as above.)
- Road tolls on the A57/628.
- Traffic calming in the villages on the A628 and A57 to prevent 'rat running'.
- A ‘Streets for People’ programme in all residential areas to encourage walking and cycling.
- Continental-style safe routes to school.
- Travel-to-work plans.
- Integrated bus and train services throughout the Peak District and improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Discount travel by public transport.
- Improved public transport links and safe cycle routes to local railway stations.
- A new railway station at GamesleyGamesleyGamesley is a residential area within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England, west of Glossop and north of New Mills. It lies close to the River Etherow which is the boundary with Tameside in Greater Manchester.-Early:...
and improved services at existing stations.
Some opponents of the scheme also advocate 'Translink' as an alternative proposal, which envisages enabling (through the reopening of the Woodhead Tunnel
Woodhead Tunnel
The Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans-Pennine 3-mile long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in northern England...
) direct rail links between Glossop
Glossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...
and Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
and beyond. Translink claims the "Rolling highway
Rolling Highway
A rolling highway is a combined transport system to transport trucks by rail....
" would be a quick, safe and cost-effective means of carrying freight across the Pennines, a credible alternative to using the A616/A628 road. HGV vehicles would roll on and roll off the low-floor wagons.
Traffic figures
Whilst supporters of the scheme argue for the bypass on the basis that it will relieve the three villages of traffic congestion, the Highways Agency's own figures do not fully support this contention. In the Environmental Statement produced by the Highways Agency, the 'Predicted Traffic Figures' support the following largely temporary reductions in traffic by 2010:- a 100% permanent reduction along the westbound section of the A57 after the junction with the A6018—this is because this section of road will be blocked and made into a one-way street, making it impossible to access the A628.
- a 13% reduction in traffic along Market Street (A628), Hollingworth (decreasing to 5% by 2025).
- an 8% reduction in traffic along Mottram Moor (A57) (decreasing to 4% by 2025).
All other routes show a marked increase in traffic, both immediately and over time:
- Brookfield (A57)—an 18% increase by 2010 (rising to 21% by 2025).
- M67 - a 17% increase by 2010 (rising to 24% by 2025).
- Back Moor (A6018)—a 9% increase by 2010 (rising to 23% by 2025).
- Ashworth Lane (B6174)—a 6% increase by 2010 (rising to 36% by 2025).
- Roe Cross Road (A6018)—a 6% increase by 2010 (rising to 36% by 2025).
The stated aim of the bypass is to reduce traffic flow along (at least) the A57 and the reviewed environmental statement of February 2007 provided radically different traffic forecasts to the originals summarised above. In particular, the new forecast indicated that there would be over 26,000 vehicles per day travelling along Back Moor. According to the data presented by the Highways Agency, this amount of traffic is greater than that presently using the main A57 Hyde Road through Mottram.
Climate change impacts
Government funded research carried out by English NatureEnglish Nature
English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
found that the proposed scheme would increase greenhouse gas CO2
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
pollution in the area by 15,840 tonnes per annum. Furthermore, the costs of the CO2 pollution were not included in the Highways Agency cost–benefit analysis. In the republished Environmental Statement summary, the Highways Agency admit that the scheme will entail "an estimated increase of 9% in emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide". However, in a Statement of the Area address on 21 November 2006, the Leader of Tameside Council announced that 4,500 trees had already been planted, increasing to 10,000 to compensate for the loss of trees when the bypass is built and to help mitigate the increases in CO2 emissions. The council leader also claimed that each tree planted would offset 75 kg of CO2 per annum. This figure—for trees to be planted in northern England—is 3.5 times greater than that for trees planted in tropical rainforests.
In an alternative proposal to the bypass, Translink claim that the removal of HGVs from the A628 onto a cross-Peak train line would save approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 per year.
See also
- Campaign for Better Transport (UK)
- Road protest (UK)Road protest (UK)Road protest in the United Kingdom usually occurs as a reaction to a stated intention by the empowered authorities to build a new road, or to modify an existing road. Protests may also be made by those wishing to see new roads built or improvements made to existing roads. Motivations for protests...
- M67 motorwayM67 motorwayThe M67 is a urban motorway in Greater Manchester, England which heads east from the M60 motorway passing through Denton and Hyde before ending near Mottram. It had originally conceived as the first part of a trans-Pennine motorway between Manchester and Sheffield connecting the A57 motorway to...
- Woodhead TunnelWoodhead TunnelThe Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans-Pennine 3-mile long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in northern England...
- Woodhead LineWoodhead LineThe Woodhead Line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester in the north of England. A key feature of the route is the passage under the high moorlands of the northern Peak District through the Woodhead Tunnels...
External links
- A57/A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle Bypass official Highways Agency information about the scheme
- Mottram/Tintwistle Bypass and Glossop Spur Public Inquiry website Official public inquiry website