BT have to undertake ducting and cabling work in the footway of Manchester Road between the pedestrian crossing and the junction of Princess Road.

As the work will effectively block the entire width of the footway, an alternative pedestrian route would be required that can only be situated within the carriageway of Manchester Road.

Unfortunately, the width of Manchester Road at this location is insufficient to safely accommodate a pedestrian walkway as well as two lanes of traffic.
 
The developer originally requested the use of 3 way temporary signals at the junction of Manchester Road / Princess Road during the week.

Given the proximity of the junction to the roundabout and the volume of traffic using Manchester Road, this was considered to be too disruptive and would have led to widespread traffic congestion in the area.
 
The best solution was considered to be something along the lines of the recent one way traffic order that was in place. Between Moor Street and the Big Lamp roundabout traffic would be permitted to travel towards Shaw only.

Traffic towards Broadway would be prevented from driving down Manchester Road by the use of barriers at the roundabout exit and would be directed along a signed diversion route.

The diversion route would be Oldham Road, Heyside, Salmon Fields. It was also decided that this should be on the weekend to minimise disruption.
 
Accordingly, the temporary traffic order is programmed for the weekend of Saturday 7th / Sunday 8th July.