
More disruption is coming to the Metrolink tram network this summer in a £147m upgrade programme.
Passengers have faced disruption for weeks in the city centre as Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) began ‘replacing older sections of tram track between Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly Station’. Now, TfGM bosses say the project is ‘two-thirds complete’, and have named the date when roadworks will move towards the railway station — and new diversions will be in place for motorists.
Engineering works are set to move on from Piccadilly Gardens and Portland Street to Aytoun Street and Auburn Street on July 17, and will stay there until August 10.
That means new ‘traffic management measures’ will be in place for Aytoun Street, as it’s an area where tram tracks meet the road so will be closed off completely.
They include:
A signed diversion route will be in place along Minshull Street, Portland Street, Piccadilly, Gore Street, and Chatham Street.
The Portland Street bus lane will be temporarily suspended eastbound, towards Newton Street, so all traffic will be able to use that stretch of road while the works are carried out.
Chatham Street will be temporarily made two-way, with the ‘no entry’ from Piccadilly lifted for the works.
Additionally, to allow local access to Aytoun Street, temporary two-way traffic access will be allowed on parts of Aytoun Street and Auburn Street where there is usually only one way access.
Tram passengers, including those heading to the final Oasis gigs in Heaton Park, are also facing disruption.
A full list of city centre service changes includes:
Metrolink services on the Altrincham and Bury lines will not stop at Piccadilly Gardens or Piccadilly station.
Altrincham and Bury trams will run via Market Street.
All trams from Ashton-under-Lyne and the Etihad Campus will terminate at Piccadilly station, with signs in place encouraging passengers to walk to Market Street to continue their journey, or use the city centre free bus.
Replacement buses will operate outside the usual free city centre bus times.
All trams from Eccles, including those going via MediaCityUK, will run to Victoria via Market Street.
The MediaCityUK to Etihad Campus peak time services will not run during the engineering works.
There will be extra double trams on the Eccles – Victoria via MediaCityUKservice.
Planned tram works are also taking place outside the city centre this summer, TfGM chiefs have confirmed, including:
Essential engineering works at Pomona, and on the Eccles line, on August 2-10 mean no tram service will operate on the Eccles via MediaCityUK line or between Cornbrook and Wharfside.
The works also mean services on the Trafford Park line will only operate between Wharfside and the Trafford Centre.
A bus replacement service will operate between Eccles and Piccadilly via Wharfside during the closure, serving all the affected stops.