Powers sought to tackle Manchester’s congestion chaos

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has urged the government to provide Greater Manchester the necessary resources to tackle the congestion that’s causing chaos on its roads.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority claims that congestion, which costs an estimated £1.3 billion annually, is worsening in the region, as leaders do not currently have the powers or access to the required funding to tackle the underlying issues that are causing congestion and delays across the city-region.

Having already provided extra buses from Park & Ride sites and invested in our highways and public transport infrastructure, the Mayor is seeking devolved powers over Highways England to help Greater Manchester coordinate roadworks more effectively, devolved power to Transport for the North over rail franchises, powers to enable better local management of roads, as well as for the Transport Order to be brought forward as soon as possible.

Burnham said: “Congestion has reached a tipping point – it’s causing major problems across Greater Manchester, making people late for jobs, school and even footballers late for their matches. It’s also affecting the quality of the air we breathe, which is a major public health issue, contributing to 1,200 deaths a year.

“We’ve been tasked by the government to deliver a Clean Air Plan which tackles congestion and reduces air pollution, but we cannot deliver this plan without further powers and funding over a range of areas including roadworks, highways and rail. Major cities including London, Berlin, Madrid and New York all have these powers, but Manchester lags behind, so I’m calling on government to give us these powers now and fulfil its promises to the north.”