IT HAS been 60 years in the making but work that on the bypass that would see Mottram transformed has finally started.
And as a former resident, Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds uses experience to form his belief that it is needed.
He also feels it would change the area for the better.
At a ceremony on Friday, May 23, ground was broken on the A57 Link Roads after decades of discussion, plans, campaigning and legal challenges. It was first mooted in 1965.
And few were happier to see work start than Mr Reynolds, who said to the backdrop of wagons queuing along Mottram Moor after the M67 finishes: “This is a project we’ve needed.
“I’ve looked at this every single way and the only way we get the relief they want is by taking the traffic off the local roads, for this bit particularly.
“Different routes have been put forward in the past. I’ve got a map of three dating back to the last consultation when I lived in Hollingworth, but this is the way forward.
“It also means, to be honest, something even more than just a road for me, even though a road is important.
“When you think about those Department of Transport inspectors coming out in 1965 and now here we are today in 2025, it’s about making sure Tameside gets its fair share.
“Other areas had this problem solved in a previous generation, so that’s why for me it’s been such a big thing. I want this area to get what it deserves.
“The kind of progress we’re seeing is about that, and it’s not perfect, nothing is ever perfect, but it’s going to make a big difference. Not just to this part of the borough, but to the whole borough.”
The project, costing about £228 million, would see a dual carriageway run from the end of the M67 and through a new underpass to the north of Mottram to the A57 east of the junction at Black Moor.
Another single carriageway road would also link the A57 from Mottram Moor to Woolley Bridge, taking traffic away from the current route along Woolley Lane.
@ggc_media A historic event held today (Friday 23 May) heralded work on a new bypass that has been decades in the waiting. The new A57 Link Roads scheme will transform travel in the North by reducing congestion, improving journeys between Manchester and Sheffield, boosting travel connections and supporting economic growth. It will also reduce noise and pollution levels for communities of Mottram-in-Longdendale. #tameside #glossop #A57 #news ♬ suara asli – peco || Template – template
Two new junctions, Mottram Moor Junction and Woolley Bridge Junction, will be created along with improvement works on the existing M67 junction four.
Five new structures – Old Farm Underpass, Roe Cross Road Overbridge, Mottram Underpass, Carrhouse Lane Underpass and River Etherow Bridge – will also be created.
A number of homes, the vast majority of which are owned by National Highways, will be demolished to make way for the new road, while work is ongoing to make sure other nearby residents are kept happy, to the point workers have been bringing logs to elderly people’ doors.
Nick Harris, chief executive of National Highways, told The Correspondent the road should open in 2028, with more projects around it after that,
And with another hard at on, that of being the country’s business secretary, Mr Reynolds feels the scheme can propel the likes of Mottram, Hollingworth and Broadbottom forward while he also looked back to former Tameside Council leader Roy Oldham.
He added: “For me, it’s always been about local people, the traffic on the doorstep and the pollution that comes from that. After being the local councillor here, I still think of myself in that way.
“But transport links are so important to the economy, and I don’t think we’ve had the full benefits of the last generation of motorways being built for Hyde because of the fact it was effectively blocked permanently by traffic.
“It will make a big difference, people will see that. It changes land prices, it changes the investment profile. So there are economic benefits.
“But it’s more about local people, for me, and what they see outside the homes and on the doorsteps.
“I can’t tell you how many transport secretaries I’ve met, or how many, even just colleagues on the High Peak side. I think it’s four different MPs, maybe five, I’ve worked with.
“Remember there was a time when the government was all about Northern Powerhouse? I said to them, I’ve got a Northern Powerhouse project for you here.
“When it was levelling up, I said, I’ve got a levelling up project for you here. Selling it in that way is sometimes what you’ve got to do.
“It’s going to mean you can use the full capacity of what we’ve got, and it’s important for us.
“It’s going to have a big effect on Mottram as well, it’ll no longer just a place in which traffic queues. It can also boost local life and even local businesses as well.
“Think about the other things we’ve seen around here in the last few years – the regeneration of the housing in Hattersley, the new housing that’s gone in, new facilities like the Ken Ward Centre and the difference that they make, it’s all part of that bigger story.
“And Roy was probably the only person more obsessed with this than I have been.”
As work got underway, as the reason why it is happening was perfectly evident, Mr Harris believes the benefits will be felt, locally and regionally.
He said: “It’s been decades in coming.
“Look at the roundabout and see the number of commercial vehicles that are stuck in it, this is a really important route both from moving goods around and linking Manchester and Sheffield.
“But also, for the folk that live around here and their ability to commute, get on with their lives. And perhaps the best bit is we’re going to be removing all this traffic from going through Mottram.
“We often talk about the transport solution and the economy, but often one of the most important things we can do is just improving people’s lives
“It will change the nature of the place, and that will bring opportunities in its own way.”