The three-year transformation – no congestion charge needed

- Cars will be encouraged to use ring road around Manchester

- Plans re-utliised from C-Charge proposals

Transport bosses outlined proposals that could see Oxford Road become an exclusively bus, bike, pedestrian and taxi road by December 2012.

Student Direct: Mancunion watched city-planning models with Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and discussed the proposals for a car-free Oxford Road, which company bosses described as “radical and far reaching.”

GMPTE revealed that the plans, linked to the new The Greater Manchester Transport Fund, were linked to the original congestion charge plans from 2008. 78 per cent of voters in the referendum rejected the congestion charge, however it seems to have made little difference to the city’s plans to overhaul public transport for the next decade.

An estimated 1.5 billion is being spent over a 10-year period of major infrastructure redevelopment.

Michael Renshaw, GMPTE’s Interim Bus & Rail Director, said: “Not only is the scheme a great opportunity to improve the pedestrian environment along Oxford Road, students can also look forward to quicker and more reliable journeys to the university from areas such as Rusholme, Fallowfield and Didsbury.”

For students who live in Moss Side or on Yew Tree Road and use the popular 111 route, journey time may not necessarily be improved. This bus route gets to Oxford Road via the one-lane Upper Lloyd Street, which links to Cambridge Street – a parallel road that cars will be redirected to.

However, plans for the “student corridor” will mirror the changes made to where Wilmslow Road meets Owens Park, with designated bus lanes and a raised cycleway marked on either side of the road.

Currently, cars can use Oxford Road as a direct route into the city centre from South Manchester. Instead, they will have to use the parallel roads, such as Cambridge Street which runs in front of Manchester Science Park, and Upper Brook Street, which links North Campus to South Campus. The overall intention for city-centre traffic is to have two routes in via Sackville Street and Princess Street, essentially directing all traffic to the left.

It is hoped that bus companies will invest in new, higher quality vehicles in order to see the proposal through properly. This would also help Manchester City Council and GMPTE reduce the city’s carbon emission levels.

Mr Renshaw said: “The proposals will also make the University more accessible from other areas such as Middleton, North Manchester and Salford, by removing the need to change buses.”

Although most students do not need to travel to North Manchester regularly, it is understood that many medical students from the University of Manchester who may be posted at North Manchester General Hospital, as well as to locations around Oldham, may find the bus route to be more convenient than moving home for just one placement year.

Medical student Gemma Phillips said: “That will be very useful, at least for future medical students because it means they won’t have to spend as much money on transport.

“At the moment [the hospital] takes ages to get to – you have to go to city centre first, then a tram, or get another bus.”

In return for wider public transport access, it is expected that transport companies such as Stagecoach, Finglands and First will keep to their side of the bargain by creating buses for a direct South-North Manchester route. Passengers should only need one bus ticket rather than two or three.

“The public consultation, which is running until December 24 [this year], is a really important opportunity for students and staff at the University to find out more about the scheme and have an input into the final design,” said Mr Renshaw.

For example, students may want to see the cycleway and bus lane be physically segregated by structures rather than just road markings, in order to ensure the safety of cyclists, or that cyclists do not unnecessarily use the extended pedestrian pathways.

Alongside what were described as ‘complementary measures’ – diverting traffic onto Cambridge Street and improving pedestrian crossings on the busy Upper Brook Street – major work would begin in March 2010.

“Although we have been working closely with Manchester City Council, the universities and the hospitals to develop the proposals, we are keen to hear from the people who will make most use of this route so we can ensure we produce the most effective scheme possible.”

GMPTE will be at the University of Manchester on November 11, in the foyer of the C floor of the Renolds Building from 12pm to 2pm. Another event linked to Manchester’s carbon emission targets, CO2sts the Earth, will be held on November 18.  All staff and students are invited to discuss the new proposals.