Funding for Cross City Bus Package given green light
A major project that will significantly improve cross city bus travel in Greater Manchester has won funding from the Government.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, made in the House of Commons today, confirmed that the measures covered by the £54m Cross City Bus scheme can now go ahead.
It was one of 45 schemes competing for funding across the country.
The project, developed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in partnership with Manchester City Council, Salford City Council and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, will provide a package of improvements along three major bus routes:
- Boothstown to Manchester via the A580 East Lancashire Road and A6 Broad Street/Crescent/Chapel Street; – Middleton Bus Station to Manchester via the A664 Manchester New Road and Rochdale Road; and, – East Didsbury to Manchester via Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road/Street.
A key aim of the scheme is to provide direct bus links across the city centre – so passengers will not have to change services or pay more than one fare – supported by infrastructure that will help to cut journey times and improve reliability.
In doing so, they will also provide better links between areas in the north, west and south of Greater Manchester and the education and health facilities on the Oxford Road corridor.
TfGM and the relevant district councils will also promote Quality Partnership Schemes (QPS) on each of the three bus corridors and the city centre section.
The scheme is one of 15 major transport projects covered by the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, a £1.5 billion investment programme created by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority with the TfGM Committee and unique to Greater Manchester.
Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the TfGM Committee, said: "This scheme will play a crucial role in improving the journey times and reliability of bus services for parts of Salford, Middleton, North Manchester and South Manchester.
“This will, in turn, offer new and improved links to jobs, education, healthcare and leisure pursuits. By laying the foundations to encourage through-services to run we aim to make bus travel a more attractive, reasonable alternative to the car for these journeys.
“We have been competing with projects across the country for this funding and would have had to go back to square one if we weren’t successful, so I’m really pleased that all the effort and hard work that went into making our bid as attractive as possible have borne fruit.
“The Government has clearly seen the value of this project and the other schemes covered in today’s statement. It demonstrates the clear value of the unique Greater Manchester Transport Fund and just what can be achieved when all ten local authorities work together.”
Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: "This multi-million pound package will herald enormous improvements to bus services through the city centre, improving links between outer parts of the city region and jobs, education and healthcare facilities.
“It will also make services quicker, more reliable and easier to use because passengers will not need to change services mid-journey or pay more than one fare.
“In short, it will help make bus travel a more attractive option and is welcome. Today’s announcement is much-needed investment in our transport infrastructure.”
A Major Scheme Business Case for the Cross City Bus scheme was developed in 2009 with an estimated cost of £54.5 million, to be funded by £40.3 million of DfT Regional Funding Allocation and £14.2 million of local contributions.
This was given ‘Programme Entry’ approval in April 2010.
Following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review in 2010, the Cross City Bus project was allocated to the DfT’s Development Pool of schemes, along with 45 other schemes from across the country – not all of which could be funded.
As a result, scheme promoters were invited to submit ‘Best and Final Funding Bids’ by autumn 2011. TfGM submitted a revised bid in autumn, which used savings from the complementary Leigh-Salford-Manchester Busway project to reduce the bid to the DfT to £32.5 million.
The core of the scheme is a set of improvements to bus measures through the regional centre that will improve connections with the bus corridors to Salford, Middleton and East Didsbury.
The scheme includes bus lanes, bus gating and junction improvements, as well as pedestrian and cycle measures. It will also involve making some sections of city centre highway bus only, alongside complementary measures to ensure that traffic flows smoothly.
TfGM will now finalise detailed designs and costings and secure the local approvals required in order to deliver the project.
Subject to this, work could start on the ground in 2012. The project will be delivered in phases but should be completed as a whole by 2015.