News

Opponents to the proposed Manchester congestion charge have claimed the current proposals will do nothing to reduce the level of commercial traffic travelling in and out of the city and have suggested an alternative solution.

The Greater Manchester Momentum Group (GMMG), made up of 250 local businesses, including 18 hauliers, believes there are a number  of areas that could be investigated before a charging zone is introduced.

The GMMG says that the Eddington report suggests pinch points in the traffic system are dealt with before any other action is taken.

Mike Lyons, financial director at haulier AK Worthington, which is a GMMG member, says the proposed congestion charge will make no difference to the amount of freight travelling on the roads. Instead, he says more should be done to tackle the causes of congestion.

GMMG's ideas include:

• redesigning roads and junctions to eliminate the pinch points that cause traffic queues
• introducing school buses to get cars off the road
• considering if bus lanes actually help, or whether they add to congestion
• introducing red-routes to prevent vehicles stopping and blocking the roads

"Rod Eddington's report suggested these options as a way of tackling congestion and said these things should be addressed, with charging only  introduced as a last resort if these things failed to make a difference," says Lyons.

He adds that none of the current proposals will reduce the number of trucks travelling into Manchester."The largest amount of money is to be spent on the extension of the tram line and this will not take a single pallet off the road."

GMMG's other suggestions include privatising assets, such as Manchester Airport, which is owned by the city council, and using the money to fund the public transport proposals and to ease the planning regulations to allow more intermodal freight schemes to get the go-ahead.