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AGAINST: Graham Stringer
AGAINST: Graham Stringer
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Politicians go head to head over toll


1/ 2/2007

TAXING motorists up to £2,000 a year for driving to work could cost jobs, damage Manchester's vibrant economy and even harm the environment, local MP Graham Stringer has warned.

Mr Stringer, MP for Blackley, is "profoundly sceptical" about the proposed road tolls on 15 corridors into Manchester city centre, which have provoked outrage among Advertiser readers.

The outline scheme, covering the area's main arteries - Rochdale Road (A664), Oldham Road (A62), Ashton Old Road (A635) and Hyde Road (A57) - was unanimously approved by AGMA council leaders last week, subject to significant improvements in public transport links.

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) plans - to be introduced not before 2010 - will now be hammered out and form part of a bid to government for money from the £1bn Transport Innovation Fund.

Newton Heath-based road haulage firm Hadfields, whose 60-strong fleet clocks up five million miles a year, have described moves to emulate London's 'C Charge' scheme as "a nightmare".

And Labour MP Mr Stringer believes the city council has been put in a difficult position by his Government because of the need to fill a £400M funding gap to complete Metrolink extensions.

He said: "The council are between a rock and a hard place. The Government should put the money into Metrolink without penalising Greater Manchester residents. I cannot see why people in Manchester should pay out what would amount in many cases to the equivalent of double their council tax in order to go to work or carry on their businesses."

GMPTE has claimed the city is close to a "tipping point" where congestion will harm the regional economy, while there are also environmental concerns over increased emissions of pollutants.

But Mr Stringer believes 'rat-running' down side streets to avoid charges could worsen congestion, and the consequent environmental damage, in areas of his constituency, including Collyhurst and Harpurhey.

He added: "What Manchester needs is more investment in Metrolink, the buses regulating, and the trains brought under local control. When that happens we can take a sensible look at what to do next."

North and east Manchester proposed road tolls:

You will have to pay if you drive along these roads:

  • Rochdale Road (A664) through Blackley, Harpurhey and Collyhurst into the city centre
  • Oldham Road (A62) affecting Newton Heath and Miles Platting
  • Ashton Old Road (A635) through Openshaw
  • Hyde Road (A57) affecting Gorton

COUNCILLOR Roger Jones, chairman of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, made an impassioned plea to Advertiser readers not to write-off the idea before knowing the full facts.

He said: "I'm not telling people to support it or not support it but to make an informed decision.

"A lot of people think it's going to be like London, where they have drawn a ring around the city and when you pass the cameras you pay a charge.

"In Manchester it will only be peak hours - say 7am to 9.30am. If you pass through the cameras before 7am or after 9.30am you won't pay.

"I don't see the point of charging into the night or at weekends."

He added: "We will also have to stop rat running. Cameras are going to be set up on other than the main roads, so there is not going to be an easy way to avoid paying."

He also wanted to stress to Manchester people that a major part of the scheme is the £1bn the government would give to improve buses, trains and trams.

"It isn't just for Metrolink as some people seem to think. We can't expect people to use public transport as it is now because it is not good enough. We need it to be better than it is now.

"I am informed that some trains are running at a capacity of 160 per cent at the moment (100 per cent is all seats full). We could buy extra rolling stock to ease this."

Mr Jones said Manchester was being told by the government that it had to answer the question of what it was going to do about congestion.


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Most recent 2 of 2 user comments

   congestion charges are a stupid way of discouraging car usage. I think everyone ought to encourage disuse of the car but also any tax/scheme that costs so much to implement, hurts the local economy, is gross unfair (no matter where you draw the line), is confusing and is difficult to administer. There are better ways to discourage car usage. For example traffic problems peak in the rush "3 hours" because too many people travel too far to work. Perhaps a proximity to work tax where an amount was applied to tax code (administered by employers) would work as well or better, would definately be fairer, would cost nowt to implement and run and would confuse no-one. People who live close to work or use public transport would not be taxed. Of course this would raise lots of dosh for government and this should ALL be applied to improving roads and public transport... or am I being naive?
D Court, heywood
2/10/2007 at 00:47
   How can you justify congestion charges when the transport system is overwhelmingly bias to those areas where there is great income like Oxford Rd and Wilmslow Rd routes. Congestion is not just caused by cars but the transport sector to. I used to use the Metrolink to get to Trafford via the Quays. On many occasion when returning to the City Centre we would get held up at the G-Mex because buses had grid locked Mosley St. We need to hand regulation to the GMPTE to manage how many independent companies can run any single route. I would welcome Congestion Charges only if we had a suitable and sustainable Public Transport system. Which Manchester does NOT have.
Naheem, Cheetham Hill, M/CR
9/02/2007 at 09:25
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