Manchester Relief Road to move ahead despite costs almost doubling

Trafford Council is expected to push ahead with compulsory land and property purchases needed for the construction of the Carrington Relief Road, despite the cost rising from £34M to a potential £66M.The Carrington Relief Road was first proposed in the 2012 Trafford Core Strategy to increase capacity and alleviate congestion in the area, which is said to cause “misery” for local residents as it is overrun with HGVs. Whittled down from six options, a preferred route that sees the new road leave the A6144 and run through Carrington Business Park before re-joining the A6144 was agreed in September 2021.The approved route for the Carrington Relief RoadAn outline business case was prepared in 2018, which estimated the cost of the scheme at £34M. Trafford Council managed to draw down £24.27M of funding, acquiring £14M from The City Regional Sustainable Transport Fund, £6M from Transport for Greater Manchester’s Growth Deal 3 and £2.8M from S106 funds via the Town and Country Planning Act, among other sources.However, the latest report on the scheme has a revised delivery cost estimate showing that it is ‘likely’ to be £56.2M. A best case scenario would see it completed for £50M while the worst case scenario could see it go as high as £66M.The main factors for this cost increase are cited as inflation, diversion of services and rising construction costs.Trafford Council is expecting to make up the shortfall through further S106 funds and the Community Infrastructure Levy. It is also horizon scanning for other sources of funding from central government and will be preparing submissions to the City Region Sustainable Transport among others. Despite this, the council report notes that “although the Council has been successful in drawing down significant sums of finance for the scheme in the past, there are no guarantees there will be similar, large scale funding opportunities in the future”.It is also noted that there is a significant risk to the scheme if there is a failure to rationalise the Carrington Business Park site by removing and relocating a complex array of private industrial pipelines and services. The project team is working with Homes England to ensure that design work can take place in sufficient time to procure a contractor that is qualified to undertake the service rationalisation work.The council will continue to push ahead with the plan and has brought in a surveryor to undertake negotiations on its behalf to acquire the necessary land, which is estimated to cost between £1.7M and £2M.While it is the council’s desire to carry out these negotiations in an amicable manner to agree compensation for these plots, it has decided it will be “prudent” to simultaneously embark on a compulsory purchase order process. This action is recommended for approval by the council’s executive at the meeting on Monday 25 July.The revised timeline for the scheme will see a formal public consultation undertaken this winter with a submission of a full planning application around May 2023. The full business case will be completed in spring 2024 and start of work on site will be in winter 2024. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2027.Trafford council executive member for climate change and transport strategy Aidan Williams said: “Residents have suffered long enough with constant traffic through the area. Creating the relief road will create better home life, free from the noise and exhaust fumes that pollute the air.“The road unlocks so much potential for Carrington and Partington. As a Council we are committed to making sure our residents have access to jobs, and that our businesses can flourish. Having proper infrastructure in place – that also promotes active travel like cycling – is an essential part of that and this is what the relief road will provide.“Our preference will be to negotiate with landowners to come to a voluntary settlement – but it is worth using CPOs so we can get the road built as soon as is practical.”On the increased cost of the scheme, Williams added: “The cost of living crisis has serious effects on households – but also in the cost of delivering important projects such as this relief road.“It’s important that inflation is brought under manageable control, while investment is made in projects like this to deliver growth and opportunity for residents and businesses here in Trafford.”