Road refused; good news for sustainable transport
Stockport Friends of the Earth welcomed news that the Department for Transport has refused to fund the SEMMMs £860-million road scheme near Stockport.
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council had bid to the department for £860 million PFI credits to construct a 25-kilometre road scheme, including a north-south A6 bypass for Stockport, and Poynton in Cheshire, plus a Manchester Airport link road. In a letter to the council turning down the road, Gillian Merron MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, said the key issue was the affordability of the scheme.
Rebecca Lush, Campaign for Better Transport's (Formerly Transport 2000) Roads and Climate Campaigner, welcomed the decision:
"The Department for Transport is to be congratulated for taking the low-carbon option. The £860 million that would have been blown on this scheme can now be put into public transport solutions this area needs, benefiting the area and making it easier for people to leave their cars at home. With Manchester looking most likely to be one of the first areas to trial road pricing, investment in world class public transport is critical to make the pricing scheme succeed, and to get emissions and congestion down."
SEMMMs
This study identified a number of opportunities for improving our transport system, but its principal component was an unbelievably expensive road that will not have solved congestion problems in Stockport.
Given the importance of climate change and the need to reduce our use of fossil fuels and CO2, spending over £500million on a road to nowhere that will increase greenhouse gas emissions and ruin our beautiful and precious Goyt Valley is beyond comprehension.
Under PFI this road would have cost £860m. As a PFI project this money would have appeared hidden from Council finances, but it would have been local or national tax payers who would have had to foot the bill in the long run!
The Good
Quality bus corridors throughout Stockport mean improved frequency and quality of service. e.g. Stockport - Hyde
Cycle path improvements
The Bad
Proposed improvements to some railway services have not materialised under SEMMMs
e.g. Hazel Grove - Manchester
The Ugly
A555 proposed road building plans - through our local countryside
Map of proposed route of A555
Note: The white areas on the map are green countryside.
Aerial views of countryside that will be spoilt by road-building.
Map of proposed route of A555 - Bredbury to Torkington (1MB)
The proposed road will ruin our beautiful green Goyt Valley in Bredbury!
Map of proposed route of A555 - Torkington - Bramhall (1MB)
There will be a lot of countryside under tarmac if this road goes ahead!
Map of proposed route of A555 - MAELR West (1.5MB)
More countryside under tarmac
Map of proposed route of A555 - Poynton bypass (3MB)
Notice a pattern? See countryside - build a road!
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