Major city centre road to see speed limit lowered to 10mph under new plans

Council bosses want to lower the speed limit on a key road in the city centre to 10mph as part of the new Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

In order to bring down pollution levels council bosses want to slow vehicles down to ‘a maximum 10mph flow on local roads feeding into A34 Quay Street’, according to a new document.

However, motorists around the Quay Street area would not be subject to a new 10mph speed limit as the council does not possess the authority to enforce a new speed limit change. 

Instead, traffic calming measures can be introduced, including speed bumps and single-lane filters, in an effort to discourage drivers from choosing to go through town – the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.

In a report at Manchester’s Council committee it said: “Modelling on this section has shown achieving a maximum 10mph flow on local roads feeding into A34 Quay Street to be an effective means of reducing traffic volumes on adjacent routes, and therefore delivering air quality benefits on Quay Street and delivering compliance at this dirty air site. 

“Viability of achieving the modelled 10mph speed limit is being explored by Manchester City Council.”

In a follow-up statement, a spokesperson for the council added: “To address [pollution] exceedances, we would — through consultation — look at ways to introduce low-traffic, low-speed usage of these streets.

“The measures may differ by location, but are likely to include signing, surface treatments and urban realm improvements. The aim of this measure is for drivers to perceive these roads as low speed and low capacity and therefore avoid them unless necessary.

“However, the council would underline its commitment to hitting clean air targets and working with partners across Greater Manchester to develop sustainable transport solutions.”

The move is a key component of the new ‘investment-led’ Greater Manchester Clean Air Plans which avoids charging motorists by cleaning up the emissions of buses and taxis while improving congestion issues on major routes in the city-region.

It is these roads where ‘exceedances’ occur frequently, going over the legal limit of 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre.

Particularly polluted sites include the A57 Regent Road in Salford, which will have its speed limit dropped to 30mph and see changes made to the traffic light sequencing and Quay Street in the city centre, which will see measures introduced to calm traffic.

According to a spokesperson for the authority, Manchester City Council is also working on slowing down other areas with 40 and 50mph speed limits to 30mph.

Nine roads have been identified as seeing these reduced limits ‘as per the 2028 Active Travel Strategy’, they added. The roads could be included ‘as long as they would be justified and consistent with overall road safety’.

Council papers also revealed the plans formed part of a wider ambition to ‘reduce all 40 and 50 miles-per-hour speed limits in Manchester to 30 miles-per-hour’.