On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 15:22:37 -0000, Conor
I know exactly where the M62 goes, but I was talking about *my* crossing of the Manchester Ship canal, which is by the M60 (the section that was formerly the M63, *NOT* the M62 or M66), which went from the far side of Stockport, crossed the Manchester ship canal at the "High Level Bridge" just above Barton Locks (near where the Trafford Centre now is) and then joined the M62.
And as another person has noted elsewhere, the opening of the M63 allowed the closing of an existing crossing, so I am simply using the replacement that caused the original to close!
Maybe you're right, I haven't thought it all through. I'm not afraid to admit it :) That's the whole point of these sort of discussions, throw in totally outfield ideas and see where it leads (a bit like Brainstorming). It doesn't matter if the idea is daft (I'm good at daft ideas!), it'll still provoke discussion and something interesting could come out of it.
But back to giving priority to goods transport. What about the problems of people who already have to get up at ridiculous hours and get home late, missing out on their family life day after day, year after year simply to be in work for the required times. Forcing them to use the longer and-or slower routes, with multiple junctions, roundabouts etc. can effectively lengthen their working day to a totally unacceptable time. When that happens, where are you going to get the office workers, the shop workers, the teachers, nurses, doctors, etc.? In my case, as I said, crossing the Manchester Ship Canal means going by motorway, or joining and getting stuck in all the traffic heading towards the centre of Manchester, only to turn back the other way after crossing, to get to the same spot on the other side!
Steve Walker
