Manchester is getting itself a £2m highways maintenance ‘blitz’ to fix up the roads across the region ready for winter.
Manchester City Council has confirmed that the maintenance work is due to take place throughout this month to ensure Manchester roads are ‘future-proofed’ for the next decade and more – and this will, crucially, include things like resurfacing.
It comes after the Council spoke to Mancs earlier this year, and residents declared that they wanted roads and pavements ‘up to standard’ and for them to stay that way, so as part of the Council’s commitment to this, a large-scale £2m resurfacing programme is set to run throughout September, with 53 roads due to be improved.
Ahead of winter, and the inevitable wet and cold weather it brings – which is the cause of a large number of issues to the road network – these upcoming works are to put a protective barrier in place ahead of time to nip potential future issues in the bud.
The work being carried out will take place in two stages – first will be the surface dressing stage, before the sealing stage, also known as the ‘Kiely Lock’ process, finishes it off.
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Manchester is getting a £2m highways maintenance ‘blitz’ to fix the roads ready for winter / Credit: MJ Richardson (via Geograph)
“We know that the cold and wet of winter puts additional stress on our roads, add in freezing temperatures and we have a recipe that can make short work of the road surface,” commented Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport at Manchester City Council.
“This is why we’re mobilising now to ensure that we can protect as many roads as possible, which not only saves the taxpayer money in the long term, but also makes our journeys quicker and safer.
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“Over the past year we have invested heavily in improvements to our highways network as we know from our residents’ feedback it’s one of the issues most important to them.
“We are confident that this programme of works will be a net positive for our residents and I’d like to thank them ahead of time for their patience as we futureproof our roads for the coming decade.”
The planned improvements will start on Tuesday 16 September, and will continue though until Saturday 27 September, and some disruption is to be expected, so do plan ahead.
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You can find the full list of roads being resurfaced here.
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
News
How will the Government’s new digital ID alternative for alcohol sales work?
Emily Sergeant
All licensed venues across England and Wales now have the choice to introduce digital proof of age for alcohol sales alongside physical.
Instead of having to hand over physical ID that contains personal information, such as names and home addresses, customers now have the choice to simply provide confirmation that they are 18 or over on their phone – helping to better protect privacy and personal safety in the process.
This means that, no matter whether you’re buying a drink at your favourite pub, heading to a festival, or enjoying a night out at a concert, you won’t need to worry if you’ve left your ID at home.
According to the Government, this new change will benefit businesses greatly too, as certified digital services are able to check that an ID is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it much easier than the alternative can, which therefore helps to reduce the risk of any fake or borrowed IDs going undetected.
Well, according to the Government, it could be as simple as a customer showing a QR code for staff to scan, or tapping their phone against a compatible reader, where staff will then receive a clear confirmation on their device that the customer has passed the age check.
This change follows a 2024 Government consultation where it was reported that 72% of respondents supported the use of digital identities for age verification when buying alcohol.
Digital Government Minister Stephanie Peacock reiterated that ‘it will remain an individual or business’ choice whether to use or adopt [digital ID]’ and that physical ID will ‘still remain a valid way’ for customers to prove their age.
“This groundbreaking change in the law will mean you do not need to carry a physical ID, nor hand over sensitive personal information such as your name or address just to prove your age, allowing everyone to feel safer on a night out,” she concluded.
Featured Image – Robin Worrall (via Unsplash)
News
Manchester to host G20 Summit in 2027 with more than a dozen world leaders descending on the city
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed as the host city for the G20 Summit next year.
It was already announced back in November last year that the G20 Summit would be coming to the UK in 2027, and plans were apparently already being discussed to host it in Manchester even before Andy Burnham became Prime Minister and Number 10 North was set up.
But now, ahead of this year’s leaders’ summit being held in Miami in December, it has been confirmed that the G20 Summit will arrive in Manchester in November 2027.
Manchester is said to have been picked to host the leaders’ summit because of its ‘cultural heritage’.
Bringing together 19 of the world’s largest economies and two major multilateral bodies – the European Union and the African union – G20 members who will be invited to attend the summit next year make up 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population as a whole.
Manchester has been confirmed to host the G20 Summit in 2027 / Credit: 10 Downing Street | Paul Kagame (Flickr)
G20 members are also some of the UK’s closest economic partners, the Government insists.
17 of the UK’s top 20 global export markets attend the summit, as do 18 of the UK’s top 20 sources of foreign direct investment.
The presidency of the G20 is currently held by the US but will pass to the UK after the leaders’ summit hosted by the president at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in December.
The 2027 summit will be held at Manchester Central, it has been confirmed, and other locations across the UK will also host other G20 events as part of the year-long presidency, but these are yet to be announced.
Emily Sergeant -
9th September 2025 
