Last weekend was Manchester city centre’s busiest on record with a huge 1.4 million journeys
Traffic previously on New Quay Street at the junction with Trinity Way
Gridlocked roads, honking horns and long delays have become a common sight in Manchester in the run up to Christmas, and the latest data shows things are getting worse.
Last weekend, the city centre experienced its busiest two days on record, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. There were an estimated 1.4 million journeys made into the city centre over Saturday and Sunday (November 29 and 30).
It is the highest number of visitors since traffic flow records began in early 2020. And, data shows, that was a staggering 200,000 more journeys than seven days earlier – when the M.E.N reported a weekend of misery, caused by huge tailbacks.
Angry motorists fumed the ‘whole of town had become a car park’ with pictures showing jammed routes along Deansgate, Quay Street, Bridge Street and Princess Street.
Now, it has been confirmed the police will now be drafted in to help deal with the swelling number of vehicles.
On Friday and Saturday night, Trinity Way, Chapel Street and Shudehill were heavily congested, as were other major routes near to Piccadilly, with delays also seen on tram services around the city centre.
The queue of taxis outside Piccadilly Station(Image: mileswithmike / Instagram )
One Instagram video, titled “Traffic Chaos at Manchester Piccadilly Station” showed queues of taxis ‘blocking’ the area outside the major city centre railway station adding to congestion on Saturday.
Another motorist questioned on X: “What even is the Manchester traffic these days? Just spent half an hour driving what would’ve been a 18 min walk” as another posted: “Manchester please sort your roads out what the f*** was that traffic.”
A third also raged on social media, and said: “Don’t get me started on traffic in Manchester nowadays, wtf is that!!! All the time, journey takes double the time and the constant accidents on the motorway, what’s actually going on?” as a fourth added: “Has the traffic in Manchester always been this bad???? Like bro it’s BAD.”
Traffic on Deansgate in recent weeks(Image: MEN)
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said a particular ‘hotspot’ for traffic is around the Shudehill area, which is close to the exit of the Arndale multi-storey car park, a major bus station, and the Northern Quarter’s bars, all of which adds to the congestion.
Just last month, motorists reported getting stuck in the winding Arndale car park for ‘hours’ with horns blaring. One witness described the scenes as ‘absolutely mad’, adding: “Traffic just wasn’t moving all over the Northern Quarter, through to the Arndale.”
And many have also hit out at the changes to the road system in the city centre in recent months, which has seen Deansgate become almost entirely one way for traffic. The changes were made by Manchester Council earlier this year in a bid to make the city centre more cycle-friendly and safer for pedestrians.
It has now been revealed TfGM could now be drafting in police to help manage the situation, having already closed roads and made the Arndale multi-storey left-turn only to try and ease traffic in the area. Although the new entry and exit measures in place around the centre are said to have been ‘working successfully’.
Queues last month in the Arndale car park(Image: @jamesdestafford / TikTok)
Manchester City Council told the M.E.N that Greater Manchester Police officers are also now being deployed at problematic junctions to enforce existing restrictions and keep traffic flowing. Enforcement patrols can also be used to tackle issues such as illegal parking, idling taxis or road traffic incidents.
“We have seen around Shudehill there’s an interesting hotspot for the regional centre,” Simon Elliott, a TfGM network director told a Manchester council meeting.
“We have looked at all the traffic flow signals and we are working quite closely with GMP to deploy assets where we need to manage traffic flow at peak times, particularly for the Christmas Markets at the weekend. We have Manchester council and GMP in our control room to manage that down.”
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It is understood that using police powers is a part of a plan developed by TfGM, GMP, and the council to combat queues, which became a source of frustration last Christmas. At the time, taxi drivers and local businesses blamed gridlock on Deansgate roadworks which made the thoroughfare one-way out-of-town.
Hundreds of thousands of people hit the city centre last weekend (November 29 and 30) due to the busy Manchester Christmas Markets, two concerts at the AO Arena and Co-Op Live, and Manchester City v Leeds game at the Etihad.
It has now been revealed to have been the busiest on record, with an estimated total of 1.4 million journeys, made by various transport means including trams, taxis, buses and by car. A minor crash on the Mancunian Way as fans left the Etihad also caused further delays.
The council has now urged people heading into the city to plan journeys ahead, use the fastest route on satnavs and use public transport wherever possible.
Traffic is now one-way on Deansgate(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: As we saw during previous weekends traffic in and around the city centre is becoming increasingly busy. This past weekend, there were an estimated 1.4 million journeys into and out of the ring road. This represents the highest figure since records began and demonstrates just how busy the city has become in recent years.
“With the world-class Christmas markets in full swing, a host of festive events planned and with a booming entertainment and sports sector it is not a surprise to see the amount of people who are choosing to celebrate the end of year in Manchester.
“Robust plans are in place to keep the transport network moving. During the weekend additional enforcement patrols were out to manage hot-spot areas and resolve any issues. This could range from illegally parked vehicles, to idling taxis or incidents on the road. Our colleagues in GMP and TfGM are also working to constantly monitor traffic and intervene during the busiest periods.
“For the festive period our message will always be try to plan your journey ahead of time, use the fastest route on your satnav, not just the shortest route in miles and wherever possible use public transport to enjoy the best Manchester has to offer this Christmas.”
Danny Vaughan, Chief Network Officer at TfGM, said: “As we expected it was incredibly busy on Greater Manchester’s roads over the weekend. This saw not just the busiest Saturday of the year so far – but also the busiest Saturday since we started monitoring daily traffic volumes.
“Over Saturday and Sunday more than 1.4 million trips were made to or from Manchester city centre, and we worked hard with the council and police to keep everyone moving, with a range of measures in place for the Christmas period.”