ANY planned expansion of the Manchester Ship Canal including a Port Warrington would require measures to ease traffic disruption in the town says local MP David Mowat.
The Warrington South MP says he supports the principals of the Mersey Ports Master Plan which would involve a £500m investment in six ports along the canal, including a brand new Port Warrington at Acton Grange.
But he called for measures to “mitigate the unique effect on Warrington of a significant increase in the number of ships travelling to and from Salford Quays.”
His suggestions include a more stable and predictable timetable for ship movements and better management of canal traffic to avoid road traffic disruption during rush hours.
Other suggestions include improvement to the bridge mechanisms to reduce the total time needed for each swing, improved sharing of information on ship movements and consideration of a new high level crossing to ease some of the pressure on the road network.
Mr Mowat said: “I fully support the principles which underpin this ambitious strategy. The injection of such a substantial amount of money into the region will create large numbers of jobs and many of these will be created close to areas of high deprivation.”
He said switching freight from road to ship will also create benefits for the region by improving air quality and easing congestion on the region’s roads.
“That said, I am concerned that an increase in the amount of traffic going to and from Port Salford will have a detrimental effect that is unique to Warrington. The current status quo pushes the resilience of the road network in South Warrington almost to the limit,” he said.
Mr Mowat said he was concerned that extra traffic would mean more swings of the bridges which could overload the local traffic network.
6 Comments
At last. The voice of reason.
who has the final say on when the bridges are open? If traffic is heavy, maybe due to M6 closure or rush hour, and a boat is due then WBC highways dept should be able to hold the boats at Port Acton unitl the traffic is clearer. Or does the ship canal have priority over highways??
So, the benefits for the region are “…. improving air quality and easing congestion on the region’s roads”. But, the concern is ” ….that an increase in the amount of traffic going to and from Port Salford will have a detrimental effect that is unique to Warrington.” and “….that extra traffic would mean more swings of the bridges which could overload the local traffic network” Contradictory statements such as these are hardly the voce of reason!!! Also, his words “…… switching freight from road to ship….” are somewhat misleading – the ‘ freight’ which will be coming up the canal is ADDITIONAL to anything already transported on the roads. Lastly, note the continued evasion of the £500 million investment question “What type of freight” ???
Why is it that any improvement to MSC always comes down to traffic. If you hadn’t noticed the entire Town is joke when it comes to tarffic management. When was there any consultations regarding improvements. Large businesses are being set up throughout the Town with absolutely no thought about improving the infrastructure. When is WBC going to get a grip to this deteriorating situation?
And YOUR solution is?????
My solution? Concentrate efforts on quality of life and sustainable communities rather than backing Peel Holdings profit grabbing!