Budget papers reveal commitment to 'critical' Greater Manchester project not mentioned by Rachel Reeves

Motorists could soon have much speedier journeys from Greater Manchester to Sheffield.

The government unveiled its spending plans on Wednesday (October 30). Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ 77-minute-long budget speech to the House of Commons included scores of new investments in Britain’s transport system.

Among those were roads and railways, with Greater Manchester being a big beneficiary of rail investment, as electrified trains will run from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge this year, and between Wigan and Bolton in the future, Ms Reeves announced.

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But one scheme not mentioned in the speech is a commitment to speed up drivers’ journeys over the Peak District on the A57. Contained in the budget papers are more details on the government’s investment in roads.

The document says: “On the A57, work will start in the coming weeks to improve journey times between Sheffield and Greater Manchester.”

There is no mention of what this commitment means in practice, and nor is there confirmation of the budget for the works. But the document classifies the work as a ‘major transport project’ that ‘provides critical connectivity between our biggest economic centres’.

It adds the Department for Transport’s total £30 billion budget will be used to ‘secure delivery’ of such projects. Other motorist measures include a pledge to keep fuel duty frozen for another year, and spending an extra £500m to fix potholes.

The pledge could be a commitment to complete the A57 Link Roads project, which started preparatory work a few months ago. Work is expected to take three years to complete.

Once finished, the A57 Link Roads project will create two new link roads. The first is the Mottram Moor Link Road – a new dual carriageway from the M67 junction 4 roundabout to a new junction on the A57(T) at Mottram Moor.

The other is the A57 Link Road – a new single carriageway link from the A57(T) at Mottram Moor to a new junction on the A57 in Woolley Bridge.