Mumps island is next to go

Mumps island viewed from Huddersfield Road is expected to be replaced by a new dual carriageway

CHRONICLE EXCLUSIVE

Sweeping changes ahead of the trams arriving

FIRST the iconic Mumps Bridge bit the dust — now the traffic island at Mumps is set to disappear.

Oldham Way will be extended to sweep through the Mumps area and straight up Huddersfield Road with Lees Road becoming a spur to join the westbound traffic flow.

And it is expected that the plans, set to be revealed next week and submitted for planning permission next month, will also include the construction of a new road off Oldham Way to bring traffic into the town centre near Rhodes Bank at the junction of Yorkshire Street and Union Street.

The 150-year-old north rail bridge was removed in August, and the remaining south bridge, built to accommodate the roundabout underneath when the Oldham Way bypass was built, went in January this year.

It is understood that work on the transformation of Mumps will be completed in time for the planned extension of the Metrolink line through to Shaw which is due to begin service in spring, 2012.

The first Metrolink trams will run as far as the old Mumps station in autumn this year.

The need for completion of the new road layout is crucial to the smooth transition of Metrolink as Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) do not want the service being taken out of commission for any lengthy period once it is up and running.

It is thought that there will be an interim scheme to take the trams across the dual carriageway. The line will then be taken out once the town centre section (known as 3B) runs down Union Street to a new Mumps transport hub before sweeping up Brook Street without having to cross the main arterial road.

The area between Rhodes Bank and Mumps is expected to be free of cars with only trams and buses operating around the new hub.

The Chronicle expects there to be a series of consultation meetings held in the town centre once the plans are revealed, and it will be after those that detailed traffic-flow schemes will be finalised for the town centre — both the interim measures while the 3B town-centre line is under construction and how it will all look once completed in 2014.

Quite how the arrival of Metrolink impacts on the regeneration of the Mumps area has yet to be realised, but there are thought to be several schemes on the drawing board awaiting financial backing.