Manchester roundtable: Transport

The issue of how to balance economic growth with transport management rose repeatedly throughout the roundtable discussion.

Karen Hirst, development director of the Central Salford urban regeneration company, argued the case for recognising the existing capacity when considering congestion. She said: "Some of the roadways are designed to take the traffic of those roads but locals take the shortest route to get to their destinations. There is capacity there and you just have to look at Trinity Way which is not normally congested."

Central Salford recently secured NWDA funding to prepare the highways for the 43-acre Chapel Street area development by the English Cities Fund. Hirst added: "We want to create an environment where development is hopefully going to prosper. ECF, with their planning application are not going to bring forward that mixed-use scheme if the environment's not right. You've also got to remember with the areas we are generating both here and in other parts of the city centre people are living there now and working there now. So you can't completely unravel all that. It's about keeping them on board with what you are doing and making them understand there might be a short-term problem where there's some roadworks and inconvenience but the long-term gain is obviously much greater than that."

Panellists agreed the challenge - and their desire - was to overcome the high rates of car use wherever possible. Various means are being pursued to this end: pedestrian and cycle ways such as the new bridges over the Irwell, the option of turning Great Ancoats Street from four to two lanes, the extended Metrolink and improved bus lanes like that planned for Oxford Road.

Alaisdhair MacPhie, partner in commercial property and construction, Hill Dickinson, added: "One of the strengths of Manchester and Salford is actually the river in this context. Historically you turned your back on the water when putting up new buildings but now you tend to build facing rivers and it helps the whole area look better."

Through investment and good design of transport flows, eventually the impressive schemes taking place within the Manchester city region should be less isolated and our roads clearer.