Table 1 P RINCIPAL ROADS IN THE REGION Classification number
A.56 A.580 and A.62 A.6
A.34
A. 56 A. 57
National and regional routes
1
TRUNK ROADS (outside county borough boundaries) Swansea-Chester-Manchester Liverpool-Leeds-Hull
PRINClP AL CLASS I ROADS Manchester-Wilrnslow-PotteriesBinningbam-Winchester Cbester-Manchester-Bury-BurnleySkipton Liverpool-Warrington-SalfordManchester-Hyde-Sheffield London-Manchester-Carlisle
A.62 A.560
Manchester-Oldham-Huddersfield-Leeds Chester-Altrincham-Stockport-HydeBarnsley Manchester-Leigh-Wigan Stretford-Worsley-Bolton
A.662
Warrington (Rd. A.57)-Bccles-SalfordMiddleton-Rochdale (Rd. A.664)Halifax Manchester-Stalybridge-HolmfirthBarnsley Manchester-Ashton-under-Lyne
A.664
Manchester-Rochdale-Halifax-Leeds
A.666
Salford-Bolton-Blackburn-ClitheroeSkipton
A.576 A.635
Chester Road (Stretford) East Lanes. Road (Worsley and Swinton) and Oldham Road (Fails worth) Chorley Road (Swinton) and Manchester Road (Worsley)
London-Derby-Manchester-PrestonCarlisle-Scotland
A.6
A.572 A.575
Principal sections within the region
Oxford Road and Wilrnslow Road (Manchester) Chester Road, Deansgate and Gt. Ducie Street (Manchester), Bury New Road (Salford and Prestwich) Liverpool Road (Irlam and Eccles), Eccles New Road, Regent Road (Salford); Whitworth Street and Hyde Road (Manchester) and Manchester Road (Denton) Stockport Road1 London Road and Market Street (Manchester); Chapel Street, Broad Street and Bolton Road (Salford) Oldham Street and Oldham Road (Manchester) Altrincham Road (Wythenshawe) Worsley Road (Swinton) and Leigh Road (Worsley) Barton Road (Stretford), Redclyffe Road (Urmston), Worsley Road (Eccles), Walkden Road and Bolton Road (Worsley) Church Street (Eccles), Eccles Old Road, Cromwell Road, Great Cheetham Street and Leciester Road (Salford), Middleton Road (Manchester) and Manchester Old Road (Middleton) Ashton Old Road (Manchester), Manchester Road (Audenshaw) Every Street, and Ashton New Road (Manchester)J Droylsden Road (Audenshaw) Rochdale R oad (Manchester and Middleton), Manchester New Road (Middleton) Bolton Road (Swinton and Pendtebury)
are continued as main roads through these centres, compelling long-distance traffic to use city streets in the absence of adequate avoiding roads. Thus Market Street (Manchester), Chapel Street and Broad Street (Salford) still form part of the main London-Carlisle-Glasgow Road (A.6) and at the same time are popular and important shopping [367 streets. Within the region the roads in Table 1 also carry a heavy volume of shuttle traffic between the two cities of Manchester and Salford and the surrounding manufacturing towns of South Lancashire and North-East Cheshire. [368 The need for the construction of ring roads-to divert long-distance traffic and to link up districts within the region-is obvious. [369 72
Mixed character of traffic The rapid growth of Manchester and Salford as manufacturing towns, and the subsequent emergence of Manchester as the marketing centre of the region, led to a heavy traffic of horse-drawn vehicles to and from the ten main goods terminals and between spinning mills, warehouses, and finishing works; this traffic contributes largely to [370 the congestion in the regional centre. The rapid building-up of the region was soon followed by the development of an extensive tramway system. Routes were established on all the radial roads linking Manchester and Salford with the outlying towns, as well as in most of the principal streets in shopping and industrial areas. For a time the faster tram had to contend alone