Final Local Transport Plan 2006/07 - 2010/11

The GMITS identifies the expansion of the Metrolink network and renewal of the existing system as a priority.  Metrolink has been proven to be very effective in achieving modal shift, which will become increasingly important as the sub-regional economy expands.

Metrolink Phase 1-2 Renewals

A key element of the Metrolink Phase 3 scheme was a programme of upgrades to the existing Metrolink lines. In July 2005, the Secretary of State conditionally approved proposals which had been submitted in January 2005  for the allocation of £58m of the agreed £520m to fund 8 additional trams, improvements to stops (including lighting, information and accessibility, along with new ticket machines) and major infrastructure works including the upgrade and renewal of the sections of former railway  lines and other works in Manchester city centre.  The approval of this spend is subject to a number of conditions being met, in particular that there will be no increases in cost.  The £44M balance of the programme will be funded by GMPTE.  The total funding package will deliver the following improvements to the existing network:

• capacity improvements/system reliability works  – primarily 8 additional trams together with the associated facilities/upgrades
• Infrastructure works  – including Disability Discrimination Act/personal safety works , track improvements , new ticket vending machines , together with associated  project management, design and contingency costs.

 A shortlist of four bidders has been drawn up for the supply of trams, and another five companies have been invited to bid to renew the track.The timescale envisaged for the project is:

• Track renewal completed Autumn 2007
• New vehicles in service Autumn 2008
• existing vehicle  modifications , stop and equipment improvements delivered under a new concession from January 2007 onwards.

Metrolink Phase 3

In July 2004 the Secretary of State withdrew funding for the Phase 3 Metrolink extensions owing to the rise in cost of the project.  A ministerial working group was set up with DfT to find a way forward and met between September and December 2004. The Government subsequently confirmed that the original offer of £520m was still available for Metrolink expansion in Greater Manchester.

In April 2005, the countywide Integrated Transport Strategy, developed by GMPTA and AGMA, was submitted to DfT. This reaffirmed Metrolink as the most appropriate solution for the Oldham/ Rochdale, Ashton and South Manchester/ Manchester Airport corridors and set the light rail proposals in a multi-modal context, with supporting behavioural change strategies. It also included a revised procurement strategy for Metrolink. Following more detailed appraisal, the South Manchester/Manchester Airport scheme was modified and only the eastern section of the loop which travels through Wythenshawe to Manchester Airport is now included in the current scheme. The revised scheme is £40M cheaper than the original, and makes the line the best performing of the proposed extensions in terms of costs and benefits. The powers that would enable the western part of the loop to be built will , however , be retained, in order to improve transport links to Wythenshawe Hospital further, and to serve proposed developments in the Davenport Green area.  (see Fig 5.3)

Metrolink  Phase 3 has now been identified as a priority for regional funding allocation in the regional prioritisation process. We are now exploring other funding sources, including the Transport Innovation Fund, and prudential borrowing. Dialogue with DfT is continuing.

Metrolink Extensions to Stockport and Trafford Park

The Metrolink extension to Stockport was submitted in 2001 as a priority major scheme for Greater Manchester. Since then discussions have concentrated on the funding of the Airport, Oldham and Rochdale, and Ashton Lines, but DfT did not reach a conclusion on the Stockport extension. Once an agreed way forward is reached on the Phase 3 lines, further consideration will be given to this scheme, which we are committed to implementing.  The proposed extension to Trafford Park remains as a scheme for which future Metrolink tenderers would also be asked to submit quotations.  This scheme would be financed by the private sector.

Manchester- Salford Inner Relief Route - Final Stage

This scheme completes the Inner Relief route round the Regional Centre.  Construction of the third and final section (Irwell Street/Gore Street) started in January 2004 and all works were completed in November 2004.

Urban Traffic Control Block Replacement Scheme

This is an essential part of making best use of the transport system.

During the LTP1 UTC major scheme period the following outputs have been achieved:

• Connection of all traffic signal controlled junctions and crossing installations to central computers for either control or monitoring purposes.
• A UTC main system has been installed and commissioned with the capability to operate up to 1200 sites on SCOOT. Currently 1100 sites are connected to this system with 200 operating under SCOOT control and 900 on fixed time plans.  Of the sites currently operating fixed time a further 50 sites are in progress of being modified to allow the operation of SCOOT with the infrastructure cost of the SCOOT facilities being met through the QBC top slice, Northern Orbital and SEMMMS programmes.
• A new control room has been constructed and commissioned with all control, operation and fault management facilities fully integrated onto a common platform.  This local network platform is then connected to a UTMC common data management facility with the facility to communicate to the GPRS network of ‘T’ mobile and to UTMC compliant communications networks.
• The 30 UTC CCTV cameras in operation in the regional centre are currently being converted onto the BT optical fibre network to give improved picture quality and reduced communications revenue costs.  Connections to camera systems in Stockport and Bury are in progress, these further facilities will allow the UTC control room to monitor 8 cameras round Bury Town Centre and up to 30 cameras around Stockport Town Centre. 
• The installation of a UTMC compliant communications network is in progress in Bury Town Centre.  This will provide for the connection of some 70 on- street devices in and around the Centre.  28 traffic signal junctions and pedestrian crossing installations will be connected via UTMC OTU’s with 26 sites operating under SCOOT and 2 sites operating fixed time.  9 traffic flow count sites are being installed and an evaluation is in progress of the potential for the provision of a car park guidance and information system. This project shows how it is possible to increase the capacity of the network to provide for the introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems whilst containing communication costs. UTMC communications provide a cost effective and flexible platform for connectivity of multiple transport control and information devices.
• At the commencement of the major scheme project there were over 250 traffic signal controlled junctions with equipment which was over 20 years old.  This number has now been reduced to some 40 sites and of these 15 sites are in progress of being modernised.  This has been achieved through a combination of funding from the UTC major scheme, district schemes, new development projects and the QBC programme.  Additional benefits have been achieved during the course of this modernisation programme in that the majority of sites modernised have been provided with pedestrian crossing facilities.
• A parking guidance and information system comprising 14 car parks and 21 VMS signs is now operational in Stockport town centre using UTMC compliant GPRS communications and operated from the UTC control room CDMF (common data management facility).  The revenue communication costs of this scheme is less than £12,000p.a. as a result of the use of UTMC compliant equipment compared to the original proposed system which was forecast to have a communications cost of £35,000 p.a.

Cadishead Way Stage 2

This scheme has  provided  a 2.4km bypass of the existing A57 through Cadishead.  Construction started in February 2004, and completion and opening to traffic was achieved during 2005, within the budgeted  scheme cost of £18.2 million. It has won a national construction award.

Central Park Transport Gateway

Central Park, a major employment site within Greater Manchester, is the UK’s first urban business park, and is comparable in terms of physical area to Manchester city centre. Working with key investment and development partners, the Phase 1 site has already been assembled and prepared and is now home to Fujitsu’s new Manchester offices. 

One Central Park opened its doors to the first intake of students on 3rd October 2005. Designed to be a one-stop shop for training and employment opportunities in new technology, and led by the Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT), in association with the three Manchester Universities, this state-of -the -art £20M building is an adult learning campus , which caters for up to 900 students.

The £36m Transport Gateway scheme celebrated its opening on 10 November 2005. Funded jointly from the successful LTP bid, Manchester City Council, GMPTE and ERDF, the Gateway comprises the Gateway road, the new Metrolink station and the bridge which is proposed to carry the Oldham/ Rochdale Metrolink extension. Tendered bus services have been diverted into the site, which is also in the area served by the East Manchester demand rsponsive transport scheme. Since development is still in its early stages, there should be later opportunities for commercial bus operations on the road infrastructure. The private sector will invest £217m in the ongoing development of Central Park, of which £48m has already been achieved.

Oldham Retaining Walls

The Oldham Retaining Walls Framework contract commenced in August 2002, and is  to be completed by 31 March 2006.  £11M of the £14M programme has now been spent. The current contract has achieved the reconstruction of approximately 5km of retaining walls.  Other significant lengths of retaining walls will still require reconstruction.  A new major maintenance bid has  therefore emerged from the prioritisation process on the short-list of major schemes for inclusion in final LTP2.  This future retaining wall scheme is likely to require a sum of around £20M over five years to complete the programme of works identified in the original Framework bid document.

Northern Orbital QBC

Work is on target to deliver the full package of measures associated with  the £9.47M scheme programme of work by March 2007. Public consultations on key corridor schemes  have been carried out in Bolton, Bury, Manchester and Rochdale.  SCOOT schemes have been completed on both the A58 in Bolton and Bury Town Centre. Similarly, work has commenced on the implementation of SCOOT  on the A58 at Smithybridge in Rochdale. In Bury, work has commenced on the construction of a large scheme on the A58, including carriageway  widening to allow for the provision of new lengths of bus lane and the construction of a new junction at Bolton Rd/Ainsworth Road. A city-bound bus lane in Middleton, Rochdale, has also been implemented, providing journey time savings and reliability improvements. Work is to commence on the A664 in Manchester, providing inbound and outbound bus lanes close to the City Centre. To date, approximately 70% of the bus stops have been upgraded on Northern Orbital corridors, with the remaining programmed for completion by March 2007.

SEMMMS QBC

Good progress is being made on this £23M scheme, with a number of completed schemes providing benefits for buses and other road users. Examples of completed schemes include, in Manchester, a £2M safety and regeneration scheme in Rusholme (part funded through ERDF) and a package of improvements for Chorlton District Centre ; Parrs Wood and Kingsway/Moseley Road/Birchfields Road. In Stockport, investment in Bridgefield Street has significantly addressed problems of traffic congestion around car parks; delays to the  bus services; poor pedestrian vehicular and cycle access and the run down and unattractive appearance of the area. Junction improvements have also been delivered in Shaw Heath; and Lancashire Hill. Work has started on Reddish Road/Gorton Road (Stockport )and Hyde Road (Tameside). Consultation has been carried out on schemes in Didsbury village and Stretford District Centre, and is currently under way for a scheme at Denton ( Tameside). Design work is at an advanced stage for a busway through the Portwood Roundabout (M60 J27), and a study has been completed for a busway at M60 J1.  A programme of  bus stop improvements  across the whole SEMMMS network is also underway.

The following major schemes have been “provisionally accepted” under the previous approval system by DfT and were remitted to the region for advice on priorities in the December 2004 settlement:

Leigh-Salford-Manchester QBC

Following the Public Inquiry into Leigh Guided Busway, the Secretary of State requested more work on some of the environmental aspects of the scheme. This further work was undertaken during Summer 2004 and the evidence was re-submitted to the DfT in October 2004. In February 2005 the DfT confirmed that it did not intend to re-open the Inquiry. On 30 June 2005, the Secretary of State announced that the Transport and Works Act Powers would be granted.

Both stages of the environmental mitigation measures for the guided section of the busway have been carried out. These included a course of spraying for the eradication of Japanese Knotweed and the creation of new ponds for the Great Crested Newts. The design work for the on-highway, A580 section of the busway, is complete.

The cost of this scheme is still estimated at £42.3m including vehicles. Subject to Full Approval being granted during 2006, we would anticipate the busway becoming operational in 3 - 4 years' time.

A57/A628 Glossop Spur to Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass

The development of this scheme continues to be co-ordinated with the Mottram to Tintwistle Bypass, which is being progressed by the Highways Agency. The schemes have been programmed to enable the statutory procedures to run in parallel such that subject to final approval they can be constructed as a single scheme, through a single contract.

Planning permission for the Spur was obtained in December 2005.  The Compulsory Purchase Orders and Side Roads Orders are to be made in the spring of 2006 with a view to holding a Public Inquiry in the autumn of 2006, subject to the receipt of objections.

Tameside MBC anticipates submitting the scheme for ‘full approval’ to the DfT in the summer of 2007. The total scheme cost is now estimated at £8.01m, an increase of £0.901m to take account of inflation.

Ashton-under-Lyne Northern Bypass Stage 2

Planning permission for this scheme was obtained in September 2003.  In December 2004, planning permission was also granted for the relocation of the affected Markazi Jamia mosque to a nearby location.  Following extensive and complex negotiations, agreement has been reached with the Trustees of the mosque relating to this relocation.  Compulsory purchase and side roads orders (CPO and SRO) for the scheme have been prepared.  Negotiations continue to purchase land by agreement where possible.  Subject to the above, orders could be published in July 2006, with submission to DfT for full approval in October 2007 subject to public inquiry timescales.  A start on construction could be made in February 2008.  The total scheme cost is estimated at £8.68M, an increase of £0.39M to take account of inflation.

Wigan Inner Relief Route

Planning permission was granted in September 2003. This followed delays because of the need to undertake additional ecological surveys to resolve an English Nature objection. During this period, further design work was undertaken to see if the scheme’s cost-effectiveness could be improved, but subsequent traffic modelling proved that other possible solutions were not appropriate. The compulsory purchase and side road orders (CPO and SRO) were made in October 2004. However, following the Government’s decision that the scheme did not represent an immediate priority for funding and would now be referred to the Regions, the CPO and SRO’s were withdrawn. Negotiations continue to purchase land by agreement.  It is now anticipated that the scheme will cost £20.8M, because of inflation and changes to the type of structure required at the crossing of the Wigan to Southport railway. The latter results from the change in construction requirement from a jacked concrete box to a more expensive jacked portal bridge, as a result of detailed ground investigations revealing new rock levels.

The scheme has now been identified by the regional prioritisation process as a contingency within the RFA.

JETTS QBC

The £26.3m scheme was included in the 2002/03 APR as a result of the M60 JETTS (junctions 18 to 12) Multi Modal Study and provisionally approved in the December 2003 settlement letter.

Following the completion of a Scoping Study, consultants were commissioned to undertake Whole Route Implementation Plans for all of the nine corridors and these were completed in June 2005. A first stage of public consultation was undertaken for all of the corridors in late 2004 / early 2005. The Whole Route Implementation Plan for the Bolton to Irlams o' th' Height QBC, bus service 8, identified that this corridor might be suitable for the operation of First Group's new Streetcar vehicle. Further design work is now being undertaken to identify what additional measures could be implemented along this corridor and for the section of the route between Irlams o' th' Height and Manchester City Centre. The completion date for the scheme will depend on the Secretary of State's response to the regional advice provided as part of the regional prioritisation process.

SEMMMS New Relief Road Scheme

An Annex E was submitted in July 2004 for this scheme and in the December 2004 Settlement letter the response was:

'Ministers have considered the South East Manchester Relief Road major scheme bid and, whilst they accept this scheme is a recommendation of the South East Manchester Multi-Modal Study and a priority for approval, they are unable to reach a final decision until the appraisal case has been completed. In particular, there are still some outstanding modelling issues to be resolved. An initial assessment of the value for money of procuring the scheme through PFI would also assist our consideration of this scheme. The Department for Transport and Government Office will continue to work closely with you to complete this work so that Ministers will be able to take a view on whether the scheme provides sufficient value for money to be granted provisional approval.'

Stockport, Manchester and Cheshire Councils undertook work to answer the questions identified in the letter and submitted revised modelling and appraisal information with an Expression of Interest for  PFI funding which has been supported by AGMA.  The decision of the Secretary of State is awaited.

Carrington – Irlam/Cadishead Link Phase 1

An Annex E was submitted in July 2004 for this scheme and in the December 2004 Settlement letter the response was that the information provided in the major scheme bid was not sufficient for the Department to be able to form a view on the scheme at that time. 

Subsequent to the settlement letter, Trafford MBC have reviewed their Unitary Development Plan and are reconsidering the land-use that would link to and impact upon the scheme.  Work will continue on scheme design and potential developer contributions will be investigated.

As part of the development of the GMITS and the preparation process for Provisional LTP2, work was undertaken to identify transport problems and opportunities across Greater Manchester on a segment basis, with a particular emphasis in this work on how transport can help the conurbation achieve its regeneration and social inclusion objectives. The outcome of this work identified a number of major schemes that would help to deliver our objectives.

The scale of the identified investment that is needed reflects the scale of the challenge faced by the transport system in responding to rapid economic change in Greater Manchester and ensuring that economic growth is environmentally sustainable.  Major public transport investment is a strong theme in the GMITS.  Greater Manchester’s public transport system is dominated by ordinary stopping bus services.  Bus is an attractive option for many shorter trips.  However, for longer trips, an ordinary stopping bus service does not provide an attractive alternative to the car, and limits the horizons of non car-owning households and the potential for demand management.

Public transport can be made attractive for middle and longer-distance trips through investment in segregated systems.  Potential major schemes include low-cost segregated busways, improved public transport interchanges, highway schemes and proposals to make better use of parts of the rail network.  The public transport proposals complement existing plans for future phases of Metrolink, covering corridors that are not served by the proposed Metrolink extensions.

Public transport schemes are balanced by selected highway schemes with an emphasis on providing road access to key regeneration areas.

While the Greater Manchester local authorities strongly believe that major investment must form a part of the transport strategy for Greater Manchester, it is acknowledged that the funding for major schemes via the LTP process is limited.  We have therefore assessed each scheme against sub-regional and regional objectives as well as value-for-money and deliverability.  The results are described in para 5.12.

In line with LTP guidance, the targets set out in Chapter 9 do not take account of the potential impacts of the major schemes set out above. The major schemes business cases will identify how each scheme enables either the relevant targets to be stretched or delivered more quickly. GMPTE are working closely with DfT on the submission of the Metrolink Phase 3 business case. The timings of the submission of the remaining major scheme business cases have not yet been finalised and, to some extent, will depend upon the Secretary of State's response to the regional funding allocation advice. The schemes set out within this LTP reflect the regional advice, however it is important to stress the need for flexibility in interpreting the submitted RFA profile RFA to reflect the practicalities and timings of major scheme business case approvals by DfT, which is particularly relevant for Metrolink. More details of all of the schemes are set out in the LTP Annex.