Millions were spent on improving Regent Road - is it any better three years on?

It was the desperately needed £15m project to reduce congestion and improve air quality on one of Manchester and Salford's busiest roads. But it's fair to say the Regent Road roadworks didn't quite go to plan.

For 17 months motorists endured endless queues and delays as the project ground on and on - compounded when Dawnus, the Welsh firm which was leading the scheme, went into administration in March 2019. Even the then Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and his squad were affected, with the Reds boss being forced to walk the last half mile to the ground ahead of a Champions League match against Juventus after the team coach got stuck in a city-wide gridlock.

Read more: The most complained about roads for potholes in Greater Manchester

But highways bosses say the work, a joint project between Manchester and Salford councils, has resulted in a significant reduction in congestion on both Regent Road and the Mancunian Way. Overall weekday journey times have improved by 19-24 per cent during the morning and evening rush hours, according to council figures.

And that's despite evening traffic volumes on the two roads being 'substantially higher' than before the work was carried out, likely due to a lane closure on Irwell Street. So, three years after the work was finally finished, we returned to Regent Road to see what the people who live and work there think.

Andrew Burgess works at Sheila's Family Stores opposite Salford Lads Club in Ordsall. He says Regent Road is still chockablock, and it's not being helped by ongoing roadworks at the nearby junction of Trafford Road and Broadway.

Andrew said: "It's just queuing all the time. I come to work at 6.30am and, no word of a lie, it's already built up by then.

"It's