Major work to improve some of Manchester city centre’s main thoroughfares is set to begin next month.
After Manchester City Council shared its initial plans back in 2023 for how improvements could be made to Deansgate and Whitworth Street West, both in the heart of the city centre, as part of the ‘City Centre Active Travel Fund’, it’s now been announced that these “improvement works” are set to begin in just a couple of weeks time.
Aptly-named the Deansgate and Whitworth Street West Active Travel Scheme, the Council set out a “range of priorities” on what it wanted this scheme to achieve in the long-term.
These priorities included encouraging more people to walk and cycle, improving infrastructure to create linked-up routes throughout the city, generally improving safety, and reducing the overall amount of traffic going into the city centre.
With all of this in mind, changes are to be brought in over the coming months across three junctions along Deansgate.
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‘Improvement works’ are to begin on major Manchester city centre roads this summer / Credit: Billy Wilson (via Flickr)
Segregated cycleways, a new bus gate, improved controlled pedestrian crossings and additional zebra crossings, junctions that provide more safety for cyclists, and the creation of a rain garden, are the changes set to get underway from the start of next month until spring of next year.
As of Monday 5 August, the improvement works are to begin on parts of Deansgate, Quay Street, Peter Street, Whitworth Street West, Chester Road, and Great Jackson Street.
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Disruption is expected until spring 2025, the Council has warned.
There will be nighttime road closures in place to facilitate resurfacing between the junctions of Quay Street and Liverpool Road from the evening of Tuesday 6 August 6 until the morning of Friday 9 August 9, with closure hours being between 9pm and 4am, and a number of other temporary traffic restrictions will also be in place over the course of the scheme.
From 5 August, work will start on the Deansgate and Whitworth St West Active Travel scheme.
Work will take place between Quay St/Peter St and Bridgewater Viaduct, including Whitworth St west.
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 8, 2024
A permanent one-way system is to also be put in place for southbound traffic between Quay Street and Liverpool Road from 5 August.
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“Work of this scale will naturally cause some disruption and potential delays for motorists,” the Council said in a statement, before adding that it is “grateful” for the “understanding and future patience” of all residents, businesses, and motorists in Manchester during the course of these works.
The scheme will be “routinely monitored” during its progress to allow the Council to “adapt” and “make interventions” based on the level of disruption, as well as help manage the network as effectively as possible.
Onlookers ‘in tears’ after tiny duckling rescued from storm drain in beauty spot
Daisy Jackson
The RSPCA has shared a heartwarming video of a reunion between a tiny duckling and his mum, after the baby bird fell into a storm drain.
The charity, with the help of staff in the nearby Grandpa Greene’s Luxury Ice Cream Parlour, managed to fish the tiny bird out of the storm drain in a painstaking two-hour-long operation.
Miraculously, the duckling was unharmed, and his mum was waiting nearby on the canal in Saddleworth ready to be reunited with her baby.
The RSPCA has now thanked the staff member who helped rescue the duckling, and issued a warning to the public to keep dogs on a lead when near wildlife, believing the poor bird was chased by a dog before falling down the five-feet-high grid.
The rescue operation too place in Diggle last Wednesday 9 April, with Animal Rescue Officer Lee Ferrans taking on the ‘long and painstaking’ process of tempting the duckling into a net.
Lee said: “I wasn’t able to lift the grid so the only thing I could do was push an extendable pole straight down and try to catch the duckling in a net. There wasn’t a lot of room for manoeuvre and the net kept catching on all the debris.
“Just when I thought I’d been successful, the duckling kept disappearing into a drain on one side and then popping out again. A member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s had just finished her shift and came across to the other side of the canal to help me. I unscrewed the top of the pole with the net and held it down on one side of the drain while she used another section to gently encourage the bird to go into the net.
“It was quite a long and painstaking rescue but we eventually managed to bring the little one back up safely after more than two hours.”
The pair then placed the duckling into a cardboard box before heading further up the canal to reunite them with their mother and six sibling ducklings.
The adult duck ‘instantly recognised’ the chirping and swam straight towards it.
Lee added: “A little crowd had gathered and as the family were reunited people were shedding tears. It was a really lovely moment to see them all back together.
“I’d especially like to thank the member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s who offered an extra pair of hands – I couldn’t have done it without her – and to all the people in the area who stopped and were concerned.
“Storm drains can be a bit of a menace for ducklings, especially at this time of the year when there are babies around, and this brood was only a few days old.”
Man jailed for throwing acid in the face of a 16-year-old boy
Daisy Jackson
A man has been thrown behind bars for eight years and two months after throwing a corrosive substance over a 16-year-old boy, leaving him with serious injuries.
When Gilson Martins of Ashton Street, Rochdale, was arrested, he was found to be in possession of acid, being kept in a bottle of hair dye.
He pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of a corrosive substance, and witness intimidation, and was also sentenced for unrelated drugs offences in 2022.
On 24 March 2024, Martins plotted the attack on his 16-year-old victim, even demonstrating to another man how effective the acid would be by using it on a piece of paper.
The victim was then lured to an address in the Woodley area by an accomplice, where he was confronted by Martins.
When an altercation broke out, a corrosive substance was thrown over the teen.
He was taken to hospital with serious injuries which required intensive treatment at a specialist burns unit, with several more procedures taking place since.
When a man spoke to police about the acid attack, Martins attended his home and threatened to ‘stab him, throw acid on him, and carve his name’ into him.
#JAILED| A man has been jailed following an acid attack on a 16-year-old boy in Stockport last year.
Gilson Martins (06/12/01) was arrested by armed police following the attack, and was discovered with an acid-filled bottle of hair dye.
The man in question barricaded himself in his bedroom while Martins knifed the door, fleeing shortly before police arrived.
He was arrested by armed officers on 10 April this year, where he was found with a bottle of hair dye.
Detective Constable Heather Parke, from GMP’s Stockport district, said: “The effects of attacks involving corrosive substances are well-known, and can result in severe, life-changing injuries or even death.
“Using them in attacks is utterly vile and I am glad Martins is now behind bars for his vicious assault. His victim received injuries from which he is still suffering, and has already received numerous treatments.
“We have zero tolerance for these sort of crimes, and we put considerable resources into ensuring that Martins was arrested, charged, and sentenced. He now has a long time to think about his actions inside a prison cell.”
Emily Sergeant -
10th July 2024 
