Motorists in Manchester are being urged to plan ahead for ‘essential works’ arriving at the start of the new year.
As part of what is Manchester City Council‘s ongoing scheme of essential bridge maintenance that’s currently happening across the city region, it’s now been confirmed that a nine-week programme of works will take place as soon as 2024 arrives.
This means that a series of lane closures are planned for Mancunian Way, and a number of other bridges in the borough, for more than two months starting from the evening of Sunday 7 January 2024.
Works are scheduled to take place on Mancunian Way, Freeman Street, and Bonsall Bridge.
According to the Council, while the Mancunian Way will only be affected by lane closures, rather than a complete closure of the road, both the Bonsall Street Bridge – which is only accessible for buses, cyclists, and pedestrians – and the Freeman Street Footbridge, will be subject to full closures.
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This is based on “the scope of works required for them”, Councillors say.
Manchester motorists urged to plan ahead for ‘essential maintenance’ works at the start of 2024 / Credit: Manchester City Council
Specialised investigations for each bridge structures are set to take place, which involves works such as running surfaces, waterproof membranes, tension cables, and anchoring points.
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On Mancunian Way, lane closures are expected for up to four weeks from Sunday 7 January, while on the Freeman Street Bridge (Princess Street), there’s set to be a full closure for up to two weeks from 5 February, and then over on Bonsall Bonsall Bridge (Princess Street), there’ll be a full closure for up to three weeks from 19 February.
The Council is warning motorists that there’ll be “heavier levels of traffic” across the city centre while these works are carried out.
“We understand that this period of work may be disruptive,” explained Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Environment and Transport at Manchester City Council.
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“However, these inspection works are vital and we will endeavour to complete them as quickly as possible, [as] safety is and will remain our top priority, and we must ensure that our roads and bridges remain safe to use and drive on.
“During this time, there will of course be heavier levels of traffic, especially during peak periods, so I would ask people to please plan ahead.”
Manchester City Council has confirmed that signage will be installed in all affected locations to “advise motorists and pedestrians of the closures in advance of works commencing”, and also, where applicable, what diversions will be in place.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
18th December 2023 
