SEMMS route could deliver 5,000 new jobs, says report

THE new £290m SEMMS relief road could help to generate more than 5,000 new jobs and create up to £2.5bn worth of increased economic activity over a 60-year period.

The figures are contained in a new report which has been drawn up to present the business case for funding the project from the Department for Transport. In total, some £165m is being sought from the government to help finance the scheme, with £29m being provided by the Greater Manchester Transport Fund and £7m by Manchester Airport.

The remainder would be provided through Greater Manchester’s £1.2bn City Deal with the government, which allows the city-region to keep a proportion of tax revenues created through expected increases in economic activity (GVA).

Papers due before Stockport Council’s Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee argue that the road, which will link the A6 below Stockport to the M56 at Manchester Airport,  would provide a £4 economic benefit for every £1 spent on the project, and that the benefits to the wider economy could be as high as £18 per £1 spent.

Project director Jim McMahon said: “Once completed, the scheme could deliver substantial benefits to the wider economy and contribute towards the creation of over 5,000 new jobs due to improved connectivity between labour and business markets.”

“It has also been estimated that the scheme will also directly generate additional economic output for the region of up to £2.5 billion.”

A draft submission from Stockport Council to the Department for Transport states that the full potential of creating a new South Manchester corridor linking Airport City, Handforth Dean and Hazel Grove’s employment area is realised, then the area could benefit from up to 11,000 jobs.

It adds that if the road is not built, “the highway capacity constraints will constrain the ability of the airport and the Enterprise Zone to fulfil their potential for job creation and economic growth”.

The South East Manchester Multi-Modal Strategy (SEMMS) was initially proposed back in 2001 but the necessary funding has never been in place for it to be built. The relief road forms the core part of the strategy.

It will be a 10km-long dual carriageway which will provide greater capacity for traffic moving through the south of Greater Manchester from Cheshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.

It would bypass congested areas such as Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Gatley and Heald Green and providing greater capacity on alternatives routes, including the M60. A new pedestrian and cycle route would also be created along its entire length.

Stockport Council and its partners Manchester and Cheshire East Councils, Manchester Airport and Transport for Greater Manchester are to submit a final business case to the Department for Transport within weeks. Following this, a public consultation exercise will take place later this year, with to a planning application due to be submitted in early 2013.

Manchester City Council chief executive recently highlighted SEMMS as one of two priority transport projects which could be brought forward under city deal – the other being an extension of Metrolink through Trafford Park.