Council facing £12m funding shortfall for controversial Carrington relief road

Trafford council is still looking for cash to complete its controversial plans for a relief road in Carrington.

The road has garnered opposition from hundreds of local residents since it is set to cut across the much-loved Carrington Moss reserve. The area is home to endangered birds, mammals, amphibians and carbon capturing peat bogs.

In the latest update given to Trafford council’s scrutiny committee, officers stated that the Carrington Relief Road plans are set to be submitted for planning approval in Summer 2023. But, there is a ‘funding shortfall’ the authority is still grappling with for the scheme.

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The report to scrutiny said: “The local highway network within the Carrington area and specifically the A6144 Manchester Road is operating well above capacity and is subject to severe congestion and significant queueing of traffic at peak times.

“The proposed new road will address this capacity issue and open up large areas of land for development in accordance with council’s aspirations for the Carrington. The council has pursued a range of external funding opportunities to support the project to date and is continuing to explore further funding sources.”

So far the council has raised £17.3m towards the road from various sources, including central government contributions. Similar relief roads, like the 10km A6/Airport Relief Road completed in 2018, cost an estimated £290m.

Back in October 2020, the estimated cost of the Carrington Relief Road was set at around £30m. That means, not considering any inflation that has occurred since then, the council would still need to find at least £12.7m to plug the gap – nearly half of the estimated