Work on Mottram bypass is due to start this summer

Work on the long-awaited Mottram bypass is due to start in August.

Following a series of meetings between Conservative candidate for High Peak Robert Largan, National Highways, and the Roads Minister Guy Opperman, it has now been confirmed that construction is due to begin within weeks. 

The construction period is expected to last about two and a half years. 

For parts of the construction period there will be some disruption. 

Mr Largan has asked National Highways to hold a series of public information events, open to all High Peak residents, so everyone is able to find out more and ask questions of the project team. 

It is anticipated that construction will start on site from August, including site preparation with hoardings being put up. 

Ground breaking is anticipated to be a few weeks after that. 

This announcement comes after the government won all the legal challenges against the bypass, with the High Court ruling that the final challenge was “totally without merit”. 

The new dual carriageway and spur road will bypass the bottleneck around Mottram Moor and Woolley Lane. 

Studies have shown that this will significantly reduce congestion, leading to faster journey times, improved air quality and more reliable bus services. 

The bypass will make it much easier to get out of Glossop or Hadfield and onto the M67 or towards Stalybridge. 

It will also reduce rat-running through Gamesley and Charlesworth. 

High Peak residents have been waiting more than 50 years for the bypass. 

More than 5,000 local people signed Mr Largan’s petition calling for the bypass to be built. 

He said: “I am over the moon! After over 50 years of waiting, construction is finally going to start on the bypass in August. There will undoubtedly be some disruption in the construction period but it will be worth it in the end.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported the campaign. I am so proud that, by working together with local people, we have made this finally happen!” 

Roads minister Mr Opperman welcomed the announcement, saying: “Robert Largan has campaigned tirelessly for the Mottram Bypass. 

“It’s only the calling of the election that’s delayed the formal announcement of the start of works.” 

There was a delay on the decision as the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s (CPRE’s) case was ‘stayed’, awaiting a Court of Appeal decision relating to another proposed bypass in Boswell. 

Now, almost six decades after being first discussed, the Mottram Bypass is on track.

The scheme, estimated to be worth around £228m, is designed to tackle congestion between Manchester and Sheffield. Work was due to start in the earlier part of 2023, but the legal challenge from the countryside charity put a halt on proceedings. 

CPRE, the countryside charity, applied for a judicial review, saying Transport Secretary Mark Harper failed to take into account the impact of increased carbon emissions and failed to consider alternatives to building a new road on the green belt. This has now been rejected.

Mr Largan said earlier this year: “I am absolutely delighted that the Mottram Bypass is finally going to be built! I live on the main road in the middle of Glossop. 

“This victory is the culmination of more than half a century of hard work from a huge number of people. I want to thank the 5,000 local people who have signed my long-running petition, calling for the bypass to be built.

“It has been a long and hard fight but we’ve finally done it!”

Stalybridge Labour candidate Jonathan Reynolds said: “I am absolutely delighted with the news from the High Court today that the final legal hurdle to the construction of the Mottram Bypass has been overcome. 

“The bypass is finally getting built. As a former resident of Mottram and of Hollingworth, and former Longdendale councillor, I have spent 20 years fighting to get this much needed road built.

“This infrastructure will boost local health outcomes and quality of life, as well as the regional economy. 

“It’s been a long time coming but the end is finally in sight.

“Many local people are familiar with the history of this essential project, which is that the Department of Transport initially sent inspectors to Hyde in 1965 to begin this process. 

“The original M67 would have incorporated the bypass and connected Manchester city centre with Sheffield.

“For my own part, as someone who first attended a resident’s meeting on this issue in 2003, it is brilliant news. My old ward colleague, the late Councillor Roy Oldham, would also be delighted.”

Around 25,000 vehicles a day travel along the A57 in Mottram in Longdendale, one of Greater Manchester’s most congested stretches of road. The proposed new dual carriageway would be created from the M67 junction 4 roundabout to a new junction on the A57(T) at Mottram Moor.

A new single carriageway would also be constructed to connect to the A6018 Roe Cross Road and a new road linking the A57(T) at Mottram Moor to a new junction on the A57 at Woolley Bridge.