The A666 is, for obvious reasons, known as 'the devil's road' and local residents believe that, somewhere along the line, dark forces are in place, about to make their lives hell.
As part of the Salford Bolton Network Improvements, or SBNI, a bus lane is being proposed to run along the road's length, from Irlams O'Th' Height roundabout to the M60 junction at Clifton.
The bus lane will be on just one side of the A666, Manchester-bound, and would be operational 7am to 10am in the morning, and 4pm to 7pm in the evening. To make way for it, one and a half metres will be sliced off the pavement on the other side of the road where residents currently park their cars, and there will be parking and loading restrictions along the route.
Apart from the inconvenience and chaos of more cars being parked down nearby side roads, residents are questioning whether the lane is actually needed and the reasoning behind it.
"It's only the number 8 that uses the whole length of the road, and currently it's never full, it's never on time and only does half of its timetabled routes" argues resident Paul Brighouse, who set up the popular Stop the A666 Bus Lane Madness Facebook group.
"The owners of the number 8 bus, First Direct, didn't even know that the Council was proposing a bus lane and they are the major users of it" he adds "In the evening rush hour, 4pm to 7pm, the bus lane is on the other side of the road and the traffic is all going the other way.
"They seem to think that there are hundreds of people using the buses but it's not Oxford Road; there's not dozens and dozens of buses competing for a bus market" he explains "There are buses that dip in and out and disappear up Agecroft Road and Station Road, but if you go down to Chorley Road, where the Civic Centre is, there's seven buses but no bus lane, surprise, surprise."
Yesterday, one resident did her own rush hour traffic count between 8am and 9am at the start of the planned bus lane, and found 1,285 vehicles using the route but only nine buses. Meanwhile, the bus lane itself changes every time it hits a major junction, which residents believe will cause even more congestion.
"You won't be able to park outside your own house, and there'll be no unloading all the way down for twelve hours a day, which will have an affect further up the road where shops and companies won't be able to have deliveries" says Paul "Plus, the side roads going to get the brunt of it.
"It's completely and utterly bonkers" he adds "They claim it's to improve traffic flow but we all know that with increased population you get increased car use. It would be a great world if everyone used the bus but I can't get to work on the bus, I use multiple different sites and need to use my van to get there. Encouraging people to use a bus is a good thing but we don't need to encourage people to use a bus down this way...there's capacity on the buses and the buses are managing to get up and down the road and negotiate the traffic that's here already."
The funding for the multi-million pound scheme is coming from the Government and Greater Manchester's Growth Fund and some residents believe that it's all part of a bigger plan...
"People are worried as well that Urban Vision are behind this and was behind the East Lancs bus lane where you've got standing lines of traffic from Chapel Street to the M61, and there almost seems a conspiracy around constricting traffic going into Manchester, perhaps with a view to a congestion charge again" says Paul.
"It seems that the politicians weren't happy when that was kicked out, and lots of people view this as a way of bringing it back by subterfuge" he argues "There is also the view that they're using the bus lane as a means to resurface the road towards Station Road that has loads of potholes on it, to save money from a different budget."
"There's a big groundswell of people around here who are very angry about what's going on" he adds "People gave lots of positive ideas about what could be changed to increase traffic flow in the area and they seem to have been ignored. We're encouraging people to contact their councillors and to formally object to the plans, from safety to cost. It just seems like it will be a white elephant."
The closing day for objections to the bus lane scheme is tomorrow 28th March, and people can object by writing to PO Box 532, Town Hall, Manchester M60 2LA or by email phlegal@manchester.gov.uk .
For more details on the scheme see the Salford City Council website – click here
Also see the Transport for Greater Manchester website - click here
To see the Stop the A666 Bus Lane Madness Facebook group – click here
Main photo shows Paul Brighouse on the 'devil's road'
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