£978,000 to tackle traffic jams

congestion on M62 motorway at Heywood

Greater Manchester will be handed nearly £1 million as “reward” for beating its congestion targets.

The £978,000 — from the Government’s Urban Congestion Performance Fund — must be spent on finding new ways to ease traffic jams in and around the 10 local authorities, which includes Rochdale.

Journey times have speeded up by more than 1.6 per cent in the region, and there was a 8.6 per cent reduction in the amount of vehicles on the roads, according to Government.

The money is part of a £1.8 million allocation to the North-West.

Transport Minister Paul Clark said: “I am delighted that Greater Manchester is being rewarded for beating their congestion targets. The money will help local authorities give road users in these areas faster, safer and more reliable journeys — benefiting the local economy.

“Across England we have now provided nearly £23 million to the participating authorities to tackle urban congestion, which is responsible for 80 per cent of all our congestion problems.”

The £60 million Urban Congestion Performance Fund was set up to help England’s 10 largest urban areas identify and tackle the causes of congestion on the major routes in their areas.

The latest cash allocation is the second of four rounds. A combined £35 million will be available over the next two years.

The money comes after statistics published last month revealed congestion had fallen by an average of three per cent across the 10 largest urban areas in the country.