Buses only for Oxford Road

27 Mar 2012

A section of Oxford Road outside The University of Manchester will be reserved for buses, taxis and cycles only as part of a package of travel improvements across Greater Manchester.

The move is one of several changes to bus travel in the Cross City Bus Package scheme, given the green light by Local Transport Minister Norman Baker today.

The package will also improve the speed and reliability of existing bus services from Middleton in the north, Parrs Wood in the south and Salford/Worsley in the west, and support the creation of new services along each of the corridors through the city centre.

The scheme will increase accessibility to the city centre and the University, and minimise the carbon impact of transport into the region.

Works will also include provision of bus priority measures along the three proposed corridors and a new bus terminus at the Central Manchester Hospitals site, whilst general traffic on Oxford Road will be moved to alternative routes, some of which will also benefit from complementary traffic management measures.

Norman Baker said: "These improved bus corridors are important to drive growth in both Greater Manchester and the wider North West region.

"This scheme addresses in particular the problems of the Oxford Road Corridor, which has the highest demand for bus travel in the conurbation and yet is one of the lowest performing in terms of reliability and punctuality.

"The package will improve the attractiveness and accessibility of public transport, greatly improving people's ability to access existing and new employment opportunities within the corridors from the north and west of the city."

Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: "The Cross City Bus package will significantly improve bus travel on key routes, which will make the bus a much more reliable and attractive option for thousands of people.

"Today's announcement means we can now press ahead with much needed improvements to the quality and level of bus infrastructure and bus priority measures in the city centre and on key routes in to the city, which will help services to run reliably and punctually.

"In turn, it will introduce a much higher level of quality to our bus network and will improve access for hundreds of thousands of people to key employment, education, health and leisure destinations in Greater Manchester."

Work can now start on the first phase, with the full scheme due to be completed by 2015.