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Drivers complain of 'awful' festive traffic chaos

AnthonyO'Neil/Geograph Afternoon traffic passes over a bridge on Dawson Street in Manchester. Trees can be seen on one side of the street - with AnthonyO'Neil/Geograph
Drivers have reported being stuck for hours in clogged up city centre roads

People have been urged not to drive into a city centre this month to avoid gridlocked Christmas traffic which motorists have described as "horrible".

Roads in Manchester has been backed up at peak times in the last week due to a surge in traffic driven by those going to festive markets and Christmas shopping.

One driver said traffic congestion on the Mancunian Way, a motorway section of the A57 and A635, had been "so, so bad", with regular delays of up to several hours, while another described their commute to the city as "awful".

Danny Vaughan from Transport for Greater Manchester said people should consider taking trams or buses over the next few weeks to avoid the worst of the seasonal traffic.

MRIGNAVY/GEOGRAPH Commuters crowd the bottom of an escalator at the end of a tram metro station at Manchester Piccadilly MRIGNAVY/GEOGRAPH
Tram capacity has been boosted to deal with Christmas demand

"Often I am late for work, you just cannot predict how long journeys are going to take, you can be stuck for hours", one driver told BBC Radio Manchester.

"I have lived in Manchester all my life and progressively each year it has got worse," she said.

Another said it now regularly took an hour and a half to travel in from Liverpool, while one student said he had been late for his graduation due to the "horrible" traffic.

Mr Vaughan admitted it was "the busiest he had ever seen", with millions expected in the city centre over Christmas.

Manchester's road network was under pressure from the surge in traffic, with high-profile football matches and shows due to make the next two weekends "very busy", he added.

ManchesterCityCouncil The stalls of Manchester's Christmas market seen from above, lit up in with yellow lights from above at night, with skyscrapers seen in the background and crowds of people filling the street. ManchesterCityCouncil
The popular Christmas markets have drawn visitors from across the region

Mr Vaughan said many of the roads were "clogged up due to just heavy volumes", and he advised people to get trams or buses where possible.

Labour councillor Pat Karney told BBC Radio Manchester the traffic chaos would be temporary as "this is the time of year where Manchester is at its busiest".

"There’s plenty of towns where there is lots of empty shops and inactivity- but Manchester’s booming," he said.

"In January you will be bringing me on and saying why is it so quiet."

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