The 'death knell' for a leafy suburb 'brought to its knees'

The ups and downs of the hospitality industry are something cafe owner Johnathon Barnett is all too aware of - having seen businesses around him shut for good over the last couple of years.

Inside Smoak, his popular coffee and bagel shop on Manchester Road in Chorlton, which opened just over 18 months ago, every table is taken. But a few days earlier, Jonathan and his customers couldn’t even access the building due to ongoing roadworks as part of a £13.4m Chorlton to Manchester Cycleway.

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He, along with several other traders claim that, despite raising concerns about the impact of the works on footfall, access and parking over the last 12 months, very little is being done to mitigate against it. Having taken longer than initially planned - it was due to complete in September 2023 - he says it is exacerbating the already precarious situation for those trading along Manchester Road leading into Barlow Moor Road, where his cafe is located.

Chorlton's councillors say that the contractors doing the work have faced 'unavoidable challenges along the way' - and that they have consistently held them to account. But traders claim local businesses have been put at risk.

“Before they started work on this section, I was told I would still be allowed access but on the day it happened, I arrived, parked up and wasn’t allowed access to the shop at first,” recalls Johnathon. “Customers were coming in and saying that they were advised not to go inside.”

Commissioned by Manchester City Council, work began in February 2023 to fit the leafy suburb - known for its bustling food and drink scene - into the city’s Bee Network. The vision for the city's transport