Congestion Charge

Congestion Charge: proposed outer ring

The changes have been made as a result of Greater Manchester-wide public consultation on the plans for £2.8bn improvements to public transport alongside a congestion-charging scheme.

The final decision on whether to accept these amendments will be made by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) on Friday 31 October 2008.

Any changes to the charge itself?

The cap on congestion charge has been lowered from £10 to £5. For instance, if you're a delivery driver and you’re crossing and re-crossing the charging rings at peak times, the daily maximum charge should be a fiver.

So what are the changes to the outer ring?

The M60 remains the outer charging zone boundary for the majority of Greater Manchester. But following public consultation, organisers have decided to adjust the boundaries notably on cul-de-sac roads close to the charging ring.

For instance, the village of Simister near Middleton will be brought within the outer charging zone. Before the amendments, anyone popping out to the only shop just over the M60 during the charging period would have been charged.

Robina Fallon, resident of Simister said it was excellent news. "One of the alternatives was that we were all going to park our cars on the other side of the bridge to avoid the congestion charge - which would have been a bit of nuisance for everyone.”

Other outer ring amendments:

• Brinnington will be outside the outer ring which will now follow the River Tame;
• in Manchester, the boundary will follow the River Mersey between the M60 Junction 4 and Chorlton Water Park;
• in Trafford, where the boundary will follow the Mersey between Chorlton Water Park and the A56 Stretford Road;
• in Bury, where Simister village will be inside the outer ring (see above);
• in Oldham, where the area in the location of Semple Way- Hollinwood station-Kaskenmoor School will be outside the outer ring;
• in Tameside, where Lord Sheldon Way, Moss Way and the Snipe Retail area will be outside the outer ring.

What about the inner ring – any changes?

The main change is to the South West border near Chorlton-cum-Hardy. So instead of splitting Chorlton down the middle on Manchester Road, it’s now proposed that the inner ring will follow Withington Road from Brooks' Bar down to Wilbraham Road, putting all of Chorlton and Whalley Range outside the inner ring.

The inner ring will therefore follow:

• Alan Turing Way, Slade Lane, Moseley Road, Wilbraham Road, Withington Road, Kings Road, Seymour Grove, Trafford Road, Albion Way, the River Irwell between The Crescent and Frederick Road, Camp Street, Great Cheetham Street, Elizabeth Street, and Queens Road.

What about changes to public transport?

There are a number of changes to the public transport improvements, increasing the number of Metrolink trams to 62 and stops to 41 and funding some major changes in Stockport. The changes include:

• a Barton Gyratory bus priority scheme between Altrincham and Stretford;
• more Yellow School Buses – up 50% to 180;
• the redevelopment of Salford Crescent station at its current location;
• a new Metrolink stop to serve Kingsway Business Park;
• £42m improvements to public transport in Stockport including car sharing clubs, and cycle hire schemes;

Any more exemptions from the charge?

Yes. People with regular medical appointments, registered recovery trucks and community transport buses will join those already granted exemption as blue badge holders, motorcycles, black cabs and private hire drivers. In addition, it's proposed that workers in Trafford Park will be exempt until 2016. And HGVs will be exempt for a whole year pending a review.

Also, low paid workers ie people on minimum wage will be entitled to a 20% discount from the congestion charge – with the same discount on public transport.