Princess Street reworked as part of £1bn Project Grow

Road traffic changes to a key Manchester city centre route will start this week as part of plans to future-proof the city’s transport infrastructure and implement traffic restrictions along Oxford Road.

From Sunday 1 November, Princess Street will be permanently opened up to two-way traffic between Major Street and the Mancunian Way to help traffic flow through the city centre.

Temporary signs have been placed in the area in the lead-up to the change and there are traffic restrictions currently in place on Princess Street. This traffic management will be removed on 1 November in a carefully managed operation with Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Police.

The change to Princess Street is being introduced to help traffic route into the city centre from the south in advance of new restrictions soon to be placed on all general traffic using Oxford Road. Under the wider scheme, general traffic will be removed from Oxford Road to give priority to buses, cyclists, pedestrians and hackney carriages.

Cllr Andrew Fender, chairman of the TfGM committee, said: “This change is a key part of our work to make it easier for buses to travel through the city centre and, importantly, enable better access to two of the city’s most popular destinations – the Village and Chinatown.

“This is crucial when you consider that around a quarter of a million journeys are made into and through the city centre every day and the number of people who visit Manchester is growing.

“We’re working to make sure the transport network supports this growth, continuing to make Manchester a sustainable, vibrant and prosperous city.”

Road signs, traffic signals and road markings are being used to highlight the changes to pedestrians and drivers, alongside posters and social media updates.

The new measures on Princess Street form part of the bus priority package that is being delivered by Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council to improve access to and through the city centre for bus passengers and cyclists.

TfGM and Manchester City Council’s bus priority package is intended to significantly improve the quality, punctuality and reliability of bus services on 25 miles of routes that run through the city and across Greater Manchester.

The scheme forms part of a £1bn co-ordinated three-year programme of works, known collectively as Grow.

A 3D video fly-through is available online and takes people on a virtual journey through the city, showing improvements for bus users, cyclists, pedestrians and other road users at www.tfgm.com/buspriority.

Further updates can be found at the Project Grow website: www.manchester.gov.uk/grow.