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
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Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Emily Sergeant -
9th September 2025 
