After 50 years, Mottram Bypass construction gets underway

Construction has finally begun on a long-awaited bypass project aimed at reducing traffic congestion between Manchester and Sheffield.

The A57 Link Roads Project, also known as the Mottram bypass, will go around the Tameside village on a route between the two cities. The project was formerly known as the “Trans-Pennine Upgrade.”

Two roads and an underpass are expected to take two years to build, with construction set to be completed in Spring 2028.

Labour MP for High Peak, Jon Pearce, said: “The beginning of construction was a “massive moment” many thought “would never happen” after the idea was first mooted as early as 1965. The congestion has just been awful for years and is only getting worse.”

In 2020, National Highways revealed about 25,000 vehicles travelled along the A57 through Mottram every day, including more than 2,000 HGVs.

The A57 and A628 between Manchester and Sheffield currently suffer from heavy congestion, creating unreliable journeys. This restricts potential economic growth, as the delivery of goods to businesses is often delayed and the route is not ideal for commuters, which limits employment opportunities. 

Much of this heavy traffic travels through local roads, which disrupts the lives of communities and makes it difficult and potentially unsafe for pedestrians to cross the roads. These issues will only get worse with time if significant improvements aren’t made, National Highways said.

The current scheme has evolved over more than 50 years as different ideas have been explored. In 2017, after a wide consultation about a number of different options, we announced a package of Trans-Pennine Upgrade work, to improve the existing route connecting the M67 at Mottram in Longdendale to the M1, north of Sheffield.