The town split in two and connected by only one main road

On the edge of Greater Manchester sits a picturesque town with stunning views of the Pennines, but it has one major flaw.

Mossley is bisected by a train line, and just one road connects them both. If that road is jammed, locals have to drive 20 minutes just to get to the other side of town.

Top Mossley and Bottom Mossley are linked by Stamford Road, which was plagued by roadworks last year.

Residents had to drive for 20 minutes through Stalybridge or Greenfield just to get to the other side of town. On foot it would take just over 10 minutes.

Like many small towns around the city-region, locals in Mossley feel a mass of housebuilding has brought more people and cars to the area. This has resulted in bumper to bumper traffic at peak times.

Joe Hartigan has just moved to the area. Nipping into town for some shopping, he stops to share his thoughts on traffic in his first few months as a Mossleyian.

“Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re not,” he said “It’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“When there is roadworks on it leads to gridlock. They tend to do it all at once as well. Then it causes problems.”

Carrying on from the bus stop on Arundel Street along to the corner of the busy junction you come across Your Mossley Community Shop. From there shopkeeper Tom Ingham has the perfect viewing spot for all the traffic that connects Top Mossley.

He said: “It’s just one road and if there are problems on it, things will spiral. Is there a solution other than building more streets? Mossley isn’t built for this amount of people and there are more and more homes being built.”

Pointing at the junction in front of his shop, Tom added: “It’s just generally busy at tea time and in the morning. When there are roadworks it’s at a standstill.

“That’s a problem when Stamford Road is shut. You have to go through Stalybridge and Ashton to get through. You can go through Greenfield as well.”

Sitting on the edge of the border with Oldham, heading into Greenfield to get to the other side of town means going into another borough for what is normally a minute’s drive.

This local sore point came to a head just before Christmas when a planning application for seven new terraced homes on Stamford Road sparked fury. Residents feared the construction vehicles and inevitable roadworks would bring the entire town to a standstill – a concern many people shared.

A representative for the developer at the planning meeting did say a traffic management plan had been put in place to mitigate disruption. Despite this, the town council took issue with the plan, not because of the design, but merely the practicality of undertaking construction on a road that acts as the town’s main artery.

Coun Frank Travis, chair of Mossley Town Council, said: “This is the main access between the two parts of town and any works have a considerable impact. A road closure can split the town in half and cause huge inconvenience for residents and businesses.

“At rush hour there are considerable traffic queues at this junction, sometimes tailing back well down Stamford Road. Any worsening of the situation will also increase rat running through residential streets.”

With the proposal getting approval from Tameside Council’s planning panel in December, people in the area are now bracing themselves for the worst when building work starts.

Stepping out of Your Mossley Community Shop, crossing the problematic five-lane junction, you can stroll up Stamford Street towards the infamous George Lawton Hall. Just opposite is Andy Taylor’s butchers.

The local trader hinted at the underlying problem that is bubbling beneath the surface – overpopulation.

“The roads weren’t built for this amount of people or homes,” Andy explained. “When they were built cars didn’t exist.

“I don’t agree with the new homes off Stamford Road. It could cause an issue. Whoever lives in them, good luck to them getting in and out.

“You’ve got a lot of people around here working in Manchester and commuting. These roads aren’t built to be the main roads for commuters.”

Stepping into the butchers to pick up some chicken, Peter Brown weighs in. The pensioner said there are more and more yellow lines being slapped onto the roads to prevent parking.

“The people here can’t park in front of their own homes. I parked up at my mate’s house and I was only there a minute and got fined so quickly.

“There is nowhere to park. There are more and more cars coming in with the houses being built but nowhere to park.

“You can’t come and park up to shop. The town is becoming overdeveloped.

“There are a lot of empty shops, but no one will take them if no one can come shopping.

“We get a lot of visitors coming to the area for walking and hiking. The café is doing well now but that is just for locals as you can’t really park up.”

In order to try and boost the local economy, the town council is working with the police and the borough council to come up with new ideas to ease congestion locally.

A Tameside Council spokesperson said: ‘’As our population in Tameside grows, there is an inevitable increased demand for housing. When developments are proposed they are always appropriately assessed to make sure there isn’t a significant impact on the local area.

“This includes looking at local transport, traffic and existing amenities during the decision making process.

“More broadly we also have our 2040 Transport Strategy, prepared with Transport for Greater Manchester, it recognises that an effective transport network in Tameside has the ability to tackle issues such as traffic congestion, improve people’s lives and create great places for people to live.

“The transport plan is ambitious, seeking to achieve 50 per cent of daily trips being made by public transport or active travel to allow growth, without increasing overall traffic and we’re taking active steps to make this happen.’’