Bypass route axed - but only for days

A controversial bypass to one of Oldham’s alternative routes to Yorkshire and the South is set to be resurrected just days after it was to be axed.

The Mottram-Tintwistle bypass through the Peak National Park to the Woodhead Pass looked set to become a victim of the credit crunch after the Highways Agency — which spent £20m promoting and researching the plans —pulled out of a £16m public inquiry.

But to the fury of Stockport – which favours rival bypasses – road planners are working on a new shorter, cheaper version to the £315m relief road on the edge of Tameside.

They are to present plans to a meeting next month of Greater Manchester’s 10 council leaders who could then ask the Government to reinstate the project.

The new plans were revealed to Oldham leader Howard Sykes and his fellow council bosses by Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein at the monthly meeting of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA).

He said: “There have been a number of meetings involving the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Northwest Development Association and a potential alternative alignment has emerged.”

But Stockport council leader Councillor Dave Goddard reacted angrily, saying: “This has been killed stone dead once. Manchester was sent away to come up with new priorities, not to bring the same scheme back within a week.”

Manchester leader Sir Richard Leese, replied: “A version of the scheme is being drawn up. If it stands up, it can be considered further. If it doesn’t, it won’t.”

The scheme which Councillor Goddard fears is threatened by the new plans includes the Stockport North-South and Poynton bypasses and the Manchester Airport Link Road West.

Hopes had risen that work could start within seven years.
priority’.

Supporters of the project vowed to continue fighting for the bypass which would link Tameside with the A628 Woodhead Pass to south Yorkshire. A public inquiry started in June 2007 and was due to last just 10 weeks. But after mistakes in the Highways Agency’s plans it was adjourned indefinitely in December 2007.

When plans for the scheme were first announced in 2003 the estimated cost of the entire project was put at £90m. Last year that figure had more than trebled to £315m. But when the Highways Agency announced last week its withdrawal from the delay hit inquiry, the fate of the bypass appeared to be sealed for good.