A BUSY Stalybridge road junction is set to close for up to 18 months after an experimental traffic order was approved.
The area where Castle Street meets Melbourne Street will be closed off to traffic, preventing a left turn from the latter.
Currently, traffic can be seen coming from all directions as it is frequently used to access the town’s Aldi supermarket, leading to near misses.
But after the order was granted, that is set to stop, with a one way system on Melbourne Street being extended to its junction with Dean Street.
Currently, no date is in place for when it comes into effect as objections can be lodged and heard at a Speaker’s Panel (Planning) meeting
However, a Tameside Council decision notice states: “The closure of the connection from Castle Street on to Melbourne Street would support the delivery of the Stalybridge Public Realm Vision by reducing cross town vehicular movement, minimising the dominance of vehicles moving through Stalybridge town centre and improving the pedestrian experience.
“Should Castle Street be closed to through traffic, an extension of the existing one-way traffic movement on Melbourne Street would be required to facilitate traffic flow within this area.”
As things stand, the experimental traffic order can only remain in force for a maximum of 18 months as Tameside Council sees whether the closure has the desired effect.
If it does, it can make the order permanent. If it does not, it will see the plans to manage traffic in Stalybridge redrawn.