Work to provide a temporary new Park and Ride site in Radcliffe on the Bury line of Manchester Metrolink is underway as part of the wider plans to increase capacity at the existing facilities at Radcliffe and Whitefield. The temporary facility – close to Spring Lane School – will have space for 250 cars and is due to open by mid-autumn.
This temporary Park and Ride site will remain open until work at both Radcliffe and Whitefield has been completed. The work will see Radcliffe increase by 111 to 480 spaces and Whitefield by 123 to 331 with an extra parking deck being installed.
Cllr Mark Aldred, Chair of Greater Manchester Transport Committee, said: “Ensuring as many people have easy access to public transport for some or all of their journey is critical if we are going to encourage more people to use buses, trams and trains and park and ride plays an important role in the overall development and expansion of the Bee Network. By giving more people the opportunity to park and ride we can get more people onto tram services running across Greater Manchester – helping to reduce congestion on the highways, tackle poor air quality and incorporate public transport into people’s travel plans. I would also encourage anyone who is able to consider cycling or walking for shorter journeys and part of any longer journeys if at all possible. Greater Manchester has hugely ambitious plans in this space which will see the creation of a safe and convenient cycling and walking network fully integrated with our trams, trains and buses.”
The work at Radcliffe is due to be completed by summer 2022 and at Whitefield by early 2022. During the work any monthly or annual season ticket holders who usually park at Whitefield and are required to use the temporary site in Radcliffe will be able to travel on Metrolink from Radcliffe (which is in zone 4 with Whitefield in zone 3) at no extra cost.
It is the second time that these Park and Ride sites have been increased in size – Radcliffe was previously extended from 250 to 369 spaces and Whitefield from 127 to 208 spaces in 2013/4.
The Bury line has always suffered from a lack of parking as it passes through some dense residential areas. Luckily at Radcliffe and Whitefield land was available for parking, although access to both parking sites were never meant for the level of road traffic, and grid lock occurs at peak times
Historically this was not an issue when the Interchange opened in Bury back in March 1980. At that time the BR railway line was part of an integrated transport system when people would use the bus into the Interchange and transfer to the train. Being a daily user of the Interchange in the early 1980’s, you could see the amount of rail passengers arriving from Manchester in the evening peak and transferring to the bus services. You could buy one weekly ticket that covered the train and bus services within the whole of Greater Manchester (you could even buy these at your local PO!) Very few used their cars to park in Bury, hence the small capacity of the original car park at the Interchange.
Whitefield also had a good connection between the buses and the train, with a bus station right on the doorstop of the station. Again integrated bus / train services ensured good usage. What a shame such a facility was closed (to become a supermarket) with buses now just using regular stops further away.
One wonders at times if we are moving forward or backwards….