Motorists are being told to expected disruption until next spring as work gears up to begin on Manchester’s next CYCLOPS junction from next week.
As part of an ongoing mission to improve walking and cycling across the city-region, work will begin on Monday 22 August to make the busy Brooks Bar junction in south Manchester safer and more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians by installing a CYCLOPS junction.
The new CYCLOPS junction will join several others that have already been successfully installed as part of the Manchester to Chorlton Cycleway.
It is to be installed where Chorlton Road, Moss Lane West, Withington Road, Upper Chorlton Road, and Shrewsbury Street all intersect, and according to Manchester City Council, it will allow pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles to move about all while remaining “entirely segregated”.
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) June 8, 2022
“Crossing busy junctions on foot or by bike can be a complicated and scary experience and is often a huge barrier for people travelling by foot or bike, and having to navigate a number of these can make them opt for the car,” Mr Boardman explained.
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“This junction design will make journeys easier and smoother for those doing their bit by cycling or walking, without impacting negatively on any other modes.”
As part of the design of the new CYCLOPS junction, changes are also to be made to road access to make sure that traffic can flow smoothly through the junction and to minimise any future congestion.
This means that Shrewsbury Street at Upper Chorlton Road will be closed, and a ban on turning left will be implemented at Chorlton Road into Moss Lane West, and the Council is advising people to plan their journey ahead of time through the duration of these works.
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CYCLOPS junctions allow pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles to move about, all while remaining “entirely segregated” / Credit: Manchester City Council / Walk Ride GM
With work expected to continue right through until spring 2023, planning journeys ahead of time will make sure motorists don’t encounter delays too significant.
Manchester City Council does however admit that the junction is usually very busy all year round, and now, with the addition of construction work on top of that, it is warning that delays “will be even longer than usual”.
You can find more information on the junction and delays expected here.
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
News
NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
Hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer are to be offered a new immunotherapy treatment.
It marks one of the biggest improvements in treatment for the disease in years, and could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long term.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
Featured Image – NappyStudio (via Unsplash)
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Andy Burnham wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the country if he is to become Prime Minister.
In case you need brining up to speed first, after it was announced earlier this month that Andy Burnham had clinched the victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231, he then went onto announce his intention to run for Labour Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, after Keir Starmer confirmed he would be stepping down.
And this week, Mr Burnham has now delivered his first speech as part of his ongoing campaign, addressing how he plans to give the country a ‘new direction’.
Burnham says that he wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster.
A lot has been discussed and reported on when it comes to Burnham’s intentions to create a so-called Number 10 North here in Manchester, but what exactly does it mean to take the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to the capital?
“The Greater Manchester way is based on strong partnership between all sectors: public, private, community, voluntary, academic, faith, and our trade unions,” Burnham said in his speech.
He continued: “When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new approach, a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach.
“Place-first, not party-first. Problem-solving, not point-scoring. Long-term, not short-term.
“A decade on, it’s incredible how much we’ve been able to achieve by working together instead of fighting against one another.”
Burnham said he feels the truth is that the country spends ‘too much time arguing and not enough time doing’ and that for Britain to get back where it ‘should be’, his Government would ask everyone to ‘face the same way’ and then ‘pull in that same direction together’.
He declared that No 10 North will be the ‘nerve centre’ for a rewired Britain.
“It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK,” he concluded. “It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Emily Sergeant -
18th August 2022 
