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End of an era
Reporter: DAWN MARSDEN
Date online: 10 March 2010
Historic bridge to make way for trams
OLDHAM’S iconic Mumps Bridge will be knocked down to encourage more visitors to Oldham town centre when Metrolink arrives.
Trams will run every six minutes across Mumps Roundabout and along Union Street from 2014 as part of an £84million package which will change the town centre landscape forever.
A Metrolink and bus station and a Park and Ride facility will be built — possibly at the old B&Q site — in a bid to attract more people into the town centre.
There will be further Metrolink stops on Union Street, King Street, Manchester Street and in Westwood before trams rejoin the loop line in Werneth. It is thought that trams will run over the Manchester Road roundabout instead of through an underground tunnel with additional lanes created to ease congestion.
The Oldham Way bypass will be connected to both Union Street and the Southlink Business Park with brand new slip roads to boost trade and encourage more visitors to these areas.
Council leader Howard Sykes said: “This is very positive news because the earlier plans for Metrolink 3a (existing rail) and 3b (town centre extension) never included a gateway transport facility like this.
“The current Mumps station and infrastructure was wholly inadequate for a 21st century transport network and the new interchange will benefit everyone using trams, buses and cars alike.
“The additional beauty of this scheme is that it also has the potential to help us unlock some of the problems that have held back plans to regenerate Mumps in recent years.
“This will now finally allow us to redraw an area that has become flawed for the arrival of the tram and beyond.
“We can redesign the link from Mumps to Huddersfield Road with better traffic flow, for example, and also revamp Oldham Way with better exits into the town centre and to Southlink which is already a successful, but isolated, commercial area.” Oldham’s Loop Line was closed in October to allow the train tracks to be converted for Metrolink with trams due to start running next year (3a).
But the section of track from Freehold to Mumps will shut for good when the town centre line (3b) opens in 2014.
The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive dashed hopes of running Metrolink on both the 3a and 3b routes saying it would result in irregular tram timings and would have a knock on effect across the network.
Councillor Sykes added: “It is admittedly regrettable that a one and a half mile stretch of 3a will not be running an express route as we had originally hoped.
“GMPTE were emphatically clear to us that it was logistically impossible to keep trams running concurrently on both lines.
“Once 3b is operational through Oldham town centre, that stretch of 3a will be decommissioned but we have been assured that the associated costs will be kept to a minimum and that — wherever possible — all equipment or materials that become redundant will be reused on the network or recycled.”
THE iconic landmark railway bridge in Mumps with its various advertising slogans has welcomed visitors to Oldham for nearly 150 years. If you have any favourite memories of the bridge, we would love to read them at: news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk
Comments
I think it is appalling that this 'iconic' structure can be detroyed. Why has it not been Listed? When it was constructed, I gather, it was the longest bridge of its type in the world & it seems an act of pountless vandalism to destroy something that has been a feature of the approach to Oldham from the east for so long.
Lets all get a petition going to save this Landmark of ours and get rid of this idiotic Council we have. I dont give a stuff about the Metrolink and will probably never use it. I do give a stuff about my Towns history and historical buildings and structures.
and while your at it bring back Cobbled Streets and the Horse & Cart, change is not good!!!
I'm sorry fedupoldhamer, Ididsaythat and Curly - you're bang wrong. Get the horrible out-dated monstrosity out of the way and let's get some nice modern development there and make a shabby area of the town a truly nice one.
And as for listing the bridge... I bet you want the OB Brewery reconstructed and put back in action... hmm actually that's not the worst idea I've had today ;)
"Encourage more visitors to Oldham" Dont make me laugh the council have already destroyed what was one of the best markets around, Why would anyone want to come to Oldham to shop when you are providing an escape route to Manchester!You will be sending parking wardens out in packs next to deter visitors from the town.....too late you are already doing it.
Has anything so ridiculous ever been done before? Close Mumps for two and a half years, spend millions putting in a new line and station then close it permanently within two years? Who in their right mind would make such a pathetic decision? An unelected quamgo backed by brainless, witless, idiots like Sykes? The trams to Manchester will be smaller, slower & less frequent. This beggars belief. Why not develop Mumps now? Metrolink down Union St is a complete folly.
Lets face it, no town council past or present appears to have done anything much to preserve Oldham's industrial heritage let alone the railway. Bury took our once famous tommyfield market and is now taking Mumps station canopy!
As far as Mumps bridge is concerned, I would have thought it better to use it some how as a Metro flyover rather than bringing the tram crashing through the roundabout bringing all traffic to a complete halt every 6 minutes. Cannot wait to get stuck in the queue.
I for one am over the moon that we are finally getting metrolink in Oldham. However, I think the council is deluded if they think it will bring people to the town. What it will do is allow Oldhamers to travel to neighbouring towns, cinema Rochdale check, market Bury check, great shopping manchester check. Thanks Oldham council you really do know what the public want !!
To encourage more visitors to Oldham town centre when Metrolink arrives... Why does this silly counccil think that people are going to come to a dirty town centre full of fast foods joints that anyone with a bit of sense would walk past
Let's be realistic. It's never been intended that Metrolink would use Mumps Bridge and this has been known by people who could be bothered to find out for the best part of 20 years. What use is a railway bridge with no railway to carry?
Incidentally, who can remember that massively supported popular campaign when we thought we weren't going to get Merolink? All those houses with the free poster the Chron provided!
Oh my goodness! Oldham folk being negative and not welcoming change; whatever next!
Maybe the Oldham Owl should be replaced by an ostrich.
The Metro link will not be bringing many visitors in - it will be shipping people out and then bringing them back with the stuff they have bought somewhere else.
Has no-one any way of stopping the barmpot ideas this council thinks up.
Keith, you forgot the numerous bars that will be shuttered up in the day time. People used to say that London's streets were paved with gold; Oldham's are paved with discarded chewing gum. Maybe that could be a tourist attraction, together with the Saturday morning pavement pizzas.
Getting rid of MUMPS BRIDGE won't bring extra visitors into Oldham. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it's part of the town's heritage and it could be spruced up or preserved in some way. If you want to smarten up the town then demolish most (if not all) of Yorkshire Street for a start,
Well I haven't seen the plans, but this is probably the busiest junction in the whole of Oldham, it will be interesting to see if the plans will not cause even more congestion by adding a tram into the mix, according to the plan once every 3 minutes (one each way every 6), imagine the chaos if this crosses the roundabout.
I left Oldham over 30 yrs ago but was always happy to come back. All I see now is a once noble town being reduced to a cess pit. Sapere Aude? Dare to be wise? Doesn't seem anything wise about the council.
I agree with everything that as been said previously in one way or another and although we do need modern transport etc.we also need to keep some of our historic buildings.The railway we had only needed a revamp,more modern carriages and a safer way to access the station.The 17 min journey to Manchester will never be possible on the tram and we all know it.I used to go directly to Southport from Mumps and that also will never happen again.No one wants to come shopping in Oldham ! dream on eh. !
About time too. It is a monstrous carbuncle, dated, dark and dingy. Come on people of Oldham, embrace change!
Iconic? It's just rusting sheets of metal, not exactly the Forth Bridge, is it? And I always thought the "Oldham: home of the tubular bandage" was embarrassing, with visitors thinking that it must be some town if that's all they can crow about.
I live within the Oldham borough, luckily within feet of a neighbouring border. I have not shopped in Oldham for the past 20 years and have no intentions of changing this. If you can, do yourself a favour and shop elsewhere, you will be surprised at how pleasant it can be. As mentioned here, the metrolink will be the beginning of the end for Oldham town centre.
Ok I am convinced folks! let's keep it; just like we have with the town hall
Ok I am convinced folks! let's keep it; just like we have with the town hall
it is interesting that the idiot sykes who says the union street section is vital to the regeneration of town still says that this clearing of mumps will benefit the town also.
only so his council can clay back more land for them to sell off!
i bet he was really annoyed when they said the existing line will remain in use. think of all that land adjacent to the bypass and what money you could make out of it!
I agree with Flake. This extremely busy roundabout is going to be horrendous once trams run across it every six minutes. It's bad enough at present with the traffic lights as they are and adding trams will just make it worse. Thankfully by that time I hope not be be around Oldham.
mumps bridge regarded as the gateway into oldham all over the country by anyone who visits the town, having been forced out of the town by the so called regeneration program i doubt the council will listen to one iota of public opinion.to run trams through one of the busiest junctions in the town is madness. i despair at the ruination of the town i once was proud to say was home, every visit iam less inclined to move back,hope my family move so i dont have to visit well done oldham council
I am not in favour of the metro nor i will use it to get into Manchester ect either.
It is the worst thing GMPTE has thought up, it will cause congestion, passenger times increasing and more out of pocket to feed private companies shareholders(Stagecoach).
Mumps bridge maybe an eyesore but the council neglected this part of town ( as they have with the town hall) but look at Chester,Bolton ect all with lovely buildings and older historic ones too.
The Train was alot better than a overpriced mess
well the metrolink should not come!waste of taxpayers money, someone said it would be easier to get to manchester to do shopping? how? how the hell is that so? train took a mear 17mins from mumps to victoria station, u think it be any faster an a tram? no! it wont! how u think the roads are gonna cope? state of oldhams roads will be the most horesdous bone-shaking ride about time ppls stood up for things! tram should not be coming, uncomfy, slow,expensive, congestion, cramped and more deaths
Have Your Say
well one of the last originial iconic strutures of oldham is being destroyed by our idiotic council who still think that a town cetre line will regenerate the town. its a structural enigneering disaster just waiting to happen! nothing will be left of union street once the metrolink damages all the old buildings along here.
while many towns try to preserve their historic and old characters of their towns, sykes and his cronies are allowing the biggest civic distruction since the 1960's!
By fedupoldhamer @ 10/03/2010 14:21:46