THE HIGHWAY IN THE SKY: MANCHESTER'S MANCUNIAN WAY

The Mancunian Way, nearly 2 miles in length included the first section of truly urban motorway to be constructed in the Region.

It is a lateral road along the southern fringe of the central area of the City of Manchester. Its primary purpose was to carry the traffic, much of it commercial, moving between the industrial areas on the east side of the conurbation through to Manchester Docks and Trafford Park. Formerly, most of this traffic had to pass through the centre of the City and, in consequence, caused considerable congestion.

A further important function of the road was to act as a distributor between the heavily trafficked main radial roads south of the City centre.

It was the intention that it would form part of a comprehensive network of urban motorways envisaged in the SELNEC (South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire) Highway Plan of 1962.

The early proposals for the route were formulated in 1959, following traffic surveys carried out by the then City Engineer and Surveyor. It was decided that the road would have to be elevated on the section from west of Medlock Street to just east of Sackville Street, a length of approximately 1400 yards. This was the only practicable way of providing the necessary grade separation at the closely spaced intersections of the motorway with Medlock Street, Cambridge Street, Oxford Road and Brook Street, all of which are important radial routes.