Long-overdue bike lanes will be ripped up three months after being laid – and that was ‘always the plan’

The project was supposed to be finished in April 2025, but now won’t end until March 2026(Image: LDRS)

Long-overdue bike lanes will be ripped up just three months after they were laid. But Manchester council says that was always the plan.

The new bike lanes were supposed to be in place on Oldham Road in Ancoats by April but were only finished in late November. A council spokesperson put that down to ‘issues with materials being sourced’ and ‘some delays around essential utilities work’.

Crews then moved onto Rochdale Road in December, although the council declined to say if they were late starting that element of work due to the Oldham Road woes. However, a spokesperson said both the Oldham Road and Rochdale Road cycle lanes will be finished in green colouring in March 2026, meaning contractors will excavate the Oldham Road route only three months after it was laid down.

It’s the latest twist in what local resident Christine Keener called an ‘insane’ saga that also featured an investigation into contractors’ behaviour, overnight drilling, and ‘murdered’ business.

Now crews are working on Rochdale Road around the Marble Arch pub which is being ‘shaken’ by the noise, putting customers off, according to bar manager Becky Holden.

(Image: LDRS)

“We have had to close early a couple of times with the JCB going, it literally shakes the pub and it drives customers out,” the 23-year-old said. “They have worked at night.”

The closure of a bus stop directly outside the boozer also ‘has driven away older customers’, Becky went on: “The next-nearest [stop] is Shudehill but it’s too far for the older ones.

“Taxis will not stop out here because it’s a one-way street. If they ring taxis, they will have to drop older customers off at the bottom. It’s a steep hill.”

(Image: LDRS)

Although Becky did say the usual Christmas spike in trade was lessening the impact, other firms are counting the cost for the work. Next door, a luggage storage shop ‘temporarily closed’ due to the roadworks.

On Oldham Road, nine shops on a parade of 12 were closed on Monday (December 22). One shuttered barbers’ was Kutters, whose owner, Jimmy Kennedy, said the roadworks forced his early retirement in September, bringing his 43-year-stay on Oldham Road to a close.

“I’m getting older, I was going to go until next year but I cannot fight this. I will lose the battle,” the 67-year-old told the Local Democracy Reporting Service three weeks before closing.

“I’m doing nothing here, there’s no passing trade. Clients are moaning there’s no public transport because there’s no bus stop open here.”

But the project won’t be finished for another few months until contractors go back and tear up the already-laid lanes in spring, Manchester council has confirmed.

(Image: LDRS)

A spokesperson said: “The majority of the cycleway has been laid in black tarmac so that they can be safely used as the rest of the scheme is delivered. This has been the most cost-effective method of ensuring that it can remain operational, pending the completion of the entire scheme.

“The green surfacing has always been planned for the final stage of this project, being applied at crossing points, so that a consistent finish can be achieved across the entire stretch of cycle lane. It was not done earlier as this could have necessitated patching, resulting in an uneven and non-uniform finish.

“The final surfacing will only be at key points and will result in considerably less disruption compared to earlier works in this scheme. However we’re grateful for the continued patience of residents and businesses in the surrounding area.”

The latest development has been called ‘unacceptable’ by local councillors Chris Northwood and Alan Good. In a joint statement, the Ancoats Lib Dems said: “It’s simply unacceptable that the works have been delayed for months on end and that bits of the scheme are having to be re-done as part of the scheme.

“Residents should not have to put up with endless overnight disruption and we need answers why it’s taken so long. The council needs to end its habit of delay and going back to redo work, and should get it right first time.”