THE controversial Leigh Guided Busway was given the green light by transport bosses as part of a scheme to improve public transport.
The busway, which would run along the East Lancs Road, was approved as part of a £1.4bn transport bonanza, which will trigger the go-ahead for a string of stalled projects.
The package - which will be brought in without the need for a congestion charge - will also see tram extensions to Manchester Airport from the city centre.
The Leigh-Salford-Manchester route, which will cost around £30m, allows buses to run with minimum guidance from the driver and will run on an old railway line and will use the East Lancs Road.
The route is expected to be served by a tram-bus hybrid which has the appearance of a tram with the flexibility of a bus and can speed past rush-hour traffic on dedicated lanes, turn red traffic lights green on its approach and still run like a bus on a fixed track.
Councillor John Warmisham, who represented Salford at the meeting, said: "I welcome any investment in public transport in the city, and I think it is vital for the people of the conurbation.
"This will bring people closer to Salford and Manchester, closer to their places of work and that is a good thing.
"You have to speculate to accumulate and anything we can do to increase public transport investment in Salford is welcomed."
But the Conservatives, who dubbed the scheme ‘the misguided busway’ say they are opposed to the scheme.
Walkden councillor Iain Lindley said: "I just think it is a complete waste of money. It will just slow down the traffic on the East Lancs and it will do absolutely nothing for people who live here.
"By taking a lane out of the East Lancs Road, you are going to increase congestion, not make it better." The deal agreed by the leaders of Greater Manchester’s 10 councils is being seen as a Plan B after a bid for nearly £3bn from the government’s Transport Innovation Fund was rejected in a referendum last year.
The cash for the deal will be based on borrowing against small long-term increases in council tax - around £2 per person per year - and the government bringing forward money the region would otherwise have had to wait several years to get.
Other parts of the TIF package - including increased yellow buses for schools, and smartcards allowing travel on different types of public transport - are not included in the new scheme.
Showing comments 1 to 14 and replies | View All
Richard Carvath (14/05/2009 at 16:45)
FrostySnowman (15/05/2009 at 09:32)
Higgs Boson, Manchester (15/05/2009 at 09:34)
Why?
Richard Carvath (15/05/2009 at 14:05)
It is madness to remove a lane from the East Lancs Road to make way for this foolish scheme. Think of the gridlock! It's difficult to think of a more stupid idea!
paul jones (15/05/2009 at 20:59)
paul jones (15/05/2009 at 21:01)
Higgs Boson, Salford (18/05/2009 at 16:54)
It is madness to remove a lane from the East Lancs Road to make way for this foolish scheme. Think of the gridlock! It's difficult to think of a more stupid idea!
Richard Carvath,"
15/05/2009 at 14:05
Richard, you will no doubt be aware of a campaign for more pedestrian crossings on the A580 following a couple of fatal collisions. This scheme will include pedestrian crossings to help serve a severed community. This surely is not a stupid idea.
P.s who said anything about removing a lane?
Richard Carvath (18/05/2009 at 18:12)
I did oppose the proposals to reduce the speed limit on the East Lancs but I expect that is now going to happen.
I do know that the East Lancs - in common with many other major roads - is the constant target of over-zealous, politically correct so-called 'safety' campaigners who have a passionate hatred of motorists and road transport and who will stop at nothing to cause as much traffic chaos and inconvenience as possible in their attempts to get our roads to grind to a complete halt.
There are millions upon millions of journeys made by road in the UK every year and about 3000 deaths on our roads annually - of which many are not due to unsafe driving but which are caused by the actions of pedestrians or cyclists or which are simply genuinely unavoidable accidents.
Whilst any road death is a sad occurrence, the fact is that statistically British roads are very safe indeed and do not need the constant meddling of 'safety' campaigners or local authorities who are really either ideologically motivated against motoring altogether or else are out to fleece motorists as soft targets for raising revenue from speeding or parking fines.
[An interesting aside... with about 3000 road deaths a year, I wish safety campaigners were more interested in campaigning for health and safety in the womb. The womb is a far more unsafe place to be in the UK than crossing a road. There are over 200,000 abortions in the UK annually and British unborn babies face a one-in-four risk of being killed in the womb. Is anybody bothered about this? I know I am. I'm much more bothered by this than the death toll on the roads, which is very slight by comparison - and accidental rather than deliberate.]
As for this Busway scheme, it's going to go ahead now so we can wait and see exactly what we end up with, how much it ends up costing and what benefits if any it brings to local transport infrastructure. I hope I'm proven wrong and that the East Lancs won't become even more congested... time will tell.
Iain Lindley, Walkden (19/05/2009 at 10:40)
Some interesting comments about disabled access. This is a real problem, especially at Walkden station, and I fully support the work that the Friends of Walkden Station are doing to campaign for better disabled access and make local people aware of Northern Rail's disability policy (ie, they will pay for a taxi to an accessible station).
However, the busway will be of no benefit to disabled people in Walkden and Little Hulton because they will have to trek all the way to the A580 to use it!
Iain Lindley, Walkden (19/05/2009 at 10:43)
We do not need the busway to make appropriate pedestrian provision on the East Lancs Road. The Worsley and Boothstown & Ellenbrook Councillors, supported by their Community Committee, have put aside a huge amount of money from the devolved highways budget for a scheme to make the crossings safer but they have been thwarted at every turn by the Council and the Highways Department, who have put every possible obstacle in the way and then quoted a hugely-inflated price (the best part of half a million pounds) just to reprogramme the lights at Ellenbrook to have an all-red sequence.
Joshua Joshua (20/05/2009 at 08:31)
FrostySnowman (21/05/2009 at 08:00)
Higgs Boson, Salford (21/05/2009 at 16:33)
When I was consulted on the scheme to build in pedestrian crossings at the A580 Newearth Rd/Ellenbrook Road junction it was clear that it is not as simple as "just re-programming the lights" and I have no idea how you came to such conclusion. Do you really think that you could get a bloke to tinker with some wires in a control box and hey-presto you have got a fully pedestrianised junction?
You are going to need dozens of new traffic signal heads, pedestrian controllers on all four arms of the junction (I think I counted 14 on the consultation drawing) sensors, microwave units, vehicle detector loops, new lowered kerbs and blister paving. Not to mention computer system to work out the phasing, miles of cables, ducts, civil engineering, anti-skid surfacing, costs for closing the road and diverting traffic. How do I know this? My partner worked for UTC who cost out and carry out the traffic signal work in Gtr Manchester-not the councils. I would have expected a local councillor to be aware of the details of the work.
Also are the community commitees going to fund fully pedestrianised crossings for all junctions on the A580? Of course not as they cannot afford it (unless Walkden decide to chip in). But the guided busway WILL provide for pedestrians at no cost to the community committees.
Joshua Joshua (23/05/2009 at 13:20)