The Government has given the green light for a scheme to build two new link roads at Mottram Moor.

It was confirmed on Wednesday (16 November) that a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the plans has finally been approved, by Transport Minister Huw Merriman.

The A57 Link Roads project will include the creation of two new link roads.

One is a new dual carriageway that would run from the end of the M67 (junction 4) and through a new underpass to the north of Mottram, in Longdendale. The road would then join the A57 east of the junction with the A6018 (Black Moor).

A new single carriageway road would also link the A57 from Mottram Moor to Woolley Bridge, taking traffic away from the current route of the A57 along Woolley Lane. 

Long-suffering residents of Mottram and surrounding areas have waited over 50 years for a solution to increasing traffic problems on the congested route between Manchester and Sheffield. 

National Highways, formerly Highways England, say the new roads would ease congestion, reduce noise levels and pollution, improve journey reliability and reconnect local communities. 

But protestors argue they will do nothing to help improve traffic in Hollingworth and Tintwistle and claim the plans are not environmentally friendly.

Two new roads will bypass the existing A57 to relieve congestion along the route

The project was considered by the Government to be significant enough that it met the criteria of being a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). 

A DCO application was submitted by National Highways in June 2021 and the DCO examination period closed in May this year. Archaeological surveys were also carried out at the site in preparation for the project should it get the go-ahead. 

The transport minister could have granted the DCO with conditions, postponed it or even rejected it, but instead gave full consent after approving the recommendation by the Planning Inspectorate. 

Construction work on the scheme - currently estimated to cost around £200 million - is set to start in spring next year and would due to be complete in spring 2025. 

The announcement came on the eve of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announcing his Autumn Statement in the House of Commons. 

Ground work at part of the site where the A57 Link Roads are due to be built was carried out by National Highways in early 2022  

Stewart Jones, National Highways’ Delivery Director for major projects in the North West, said: “This news is a real landmark – not least for everyone living alongside the existing A57 who has had to put up with rising congestion, road noise, pollution and disrupted local journeys over the years as vehicle numbers have risen.

“The project will also provide relief for the thousands of commuters, hauliers and other drivers who rely on the vitally important Manchester to Sheffield route every day and we’re looking forward to the spring when we can start building.”

National Highways say they will review the transport minister's findings in full and are committed to holding face-to-face public information events on the scheme in early 2023 including timeframes, traffic management and potential diversions. 

'We do finally appear to be on the brink of real progress' 

The news has been warmly welcomed by the two MPs from opposing parties and both sides of the Glossopdale-Tameside border who have been campaigning for the project for some time. 

High Peak's Conservative MP Robert Largan said: "Before I was elected as your local MP, the last time any High Peak MP had even mentioned the Mottram Bypass in Parliament was in May 2016.

"I promised to make the Bypass my number one priority and I am delighted by today’s announcement. Construction of the Bypass will now begin next year. 

“I want to thank the nearly 4,000 local people who have signed my long-running petition. This is a fantastic day for residents in Glossop, Hadfield, Padfield, Charlesworth, and Gamesley! This shows what we can achieve when we work together.”

The A57 Links Road project team flanked by MPs Largan (left) and Reynolds (right) earlier this year 

Stalybridge and Hyde's Labour MP Jonathan Reynolds commented: "For me this is the culmination of 20 years of work since I first attended a meeting of the Longdendale Siege Committee as a local resident in 2003. For our area, it is the culmination of work that goes as far back as 1965.

"Many, many people have been involved in this campaign over that time as successive projects were proposed and then stalled. I can’t tell you just how many Roads Ministers I’ve met with, but we do finally appear to be on the brink of real progress.

"The prospect of resolving the permanent traffic jam at the end of the M67 is a very significant one for the whole area. It will have a significant impact on quality of life in Mottram, Hattersley, Hollingworth and Broadbottom, but also help on the other side of the borough as traffic no longer needs to come past Stamford Park to get to Stalybridge and Mossley." 

'Irrational and irresponsible' 

But the decision to approve the project has also been branded 'irrational and irresponsible' by protestors, who claim the scheme would leave Hollingworth, Tintwistle and much of Glossopdale to 'endure existing congestion and pollution' with 'increased traffic, road crashes and carbon emissions'. 

High Peak Green New Deal have been promoting an alternative £10 million plan, developed by the CPRE, which they say would provide safer walking and cycling, improved bus services, better integration of public transport, and also ban heavy lorries on the A628. 

Traffic travelling along Manchester Road in Tintwistle

"I am amazed that this outdated scheme has been given the go ahead," said Linda Walker, of High Peak Green New Deal. "We need a solution that deals with the traffic issues in the whole area, not just Mottram. CPRE's Low Carbon TravelProject would do that for a tiny fraction of the scheme's cost - £10 million. We are already building on this to involve the whole community in providing a plan for sustainable travel." 

Anne Robinson, transport campaigner with CPRE PDSY, also commented: "To consent a road scheme that will lock in greater car use when we need to be rapidly cutting emissions and encouraging massive behaviour change defies all logic. The examination of the scheme exposed numerous flaws that were never revealed during public consultation. We will be scrutinising the decision to ensure it was made properly and lawfully." 

According to National Highways data, around 25,000 vehicles currently travel along the A57 through Mottram in Longdendale every day, including more than 2,000 heavy goods vehicles.