Business owners in Salford are complaining of a loss of customer base due to the recent 12-month road work plan issued by the Manchester City Council and Salford City Council.

The plans have affected six junctions including, the junctions of Regent Road and Ordsall Lane and the junction of Regent Road and Oldfield in Salford. The area has huge business occupants such as Sainsbury’s, JD and Argos.

 

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The roadworks began at the end of August, and aim to reduce traffic congestion within Manchester.

Major delays are being experienced along the roadworks. However, these delays have also had a knock-on effect on other areas; with the Mancunian Way seeing delays of up to 60 minutes.

The works are to continue for at least 12 months with roads being fully opened once all of the work is complete.

Christian Bannham, an employee of Topp Tiles located in Salford at the Regent Road Retail Park, has told us how the increased traffic has not only affected his own personal commute to work but has resulted in a loss of customers for the business.

Many customers have chosen to shop elsewhere to avoid major delays.

“Usually a ten-minute journey, takes about half an hour, forty minutes depending on the day”

 

It’s not only business’ that are being affected by the roadworks, customers and commuters are also facing challenges that the plans have caused. Commuters in the area have been advised to reroute their journeys to works and people are choosing to travel further afield, despite the retail park previously being the easiest location.

The plans aim to reduce traffic congestion with the Manchester City Council stating in a statement that the investment: “will cut congestion in the area and on the ring road as a whole – getting people to where they want to be quicker”.

It will also offer inclusivity to both cyclists and pedestrians. “We will provide fully signaled pedestrian crossings and we’ll be keeping the bike routes through the junction, either as a cycleway or as a crossing shared with pedestrians” stated Manchester city council.

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