The 'magic road' was a term quickly coined by some for the A555 Airport Relief Road when it first opened in 2018 as it slashed journey times between towns and villages in Stockport and Cheshire. And while it is a very useful tool for getting around south Manchester, Stockport, and Cheshire, the magic soon fades when the heavens open.
Heavy rain battered the region leading to flooding alerts this week. Travel chaos ensued and unsurprisingly the A555 was affected, being closed off on more than one occasion.
This morning (January 12) was no different, with the road closed to vehicles between Styal Road and Bramhall Oil Refinery before only opening up westbound by the afternoon. The Manchester Evening News went to have a look at the flooding with many others stopping at Hall Moss Lane, in the Cheadle Hulme/Bramall area, to see why their main route had been closed off.
"It's a joke this, it happens every single time it rains," said one passer-by. And they're not entirely wrong, it happens more than once a year at least and is likely to happen again this year with it only being early January now.
Completed in 2018, the £290m route links Hazel Grove, in Stockport, to the airport. It has also highly benefited the towns and villages close-by, including Disley, Poynton, and more, for journey times.
However, it is regularly blighted by flooding with its closure accompanying it. It has previously been admitted by a councillor that there may never be a solution to the A555 Airport Relief road’s flooding problems.
An independent investigation into the disastrous floods that hit Stockport in the summer of 2019 found that ‘design shortcomings’ meant the A555 would ‘remain vulnerable to flooding from prolonged or frequent heavy rainfall’.
Stockport Council has previously said that it is working with Morgan Sindall - the firm that built the road - to find an engineering solution to the recurring problem. But a full council meeting heard in 2021 that there simply may not be one.
Former economy and regeneration chief Coun David Meller said: "We have to be honest, we don’t know what is possible in terms of engineering, but we are continuing to do that work.
"We are working with Morgan Sindall to look at ways in which we can address this once and for all in terms of looking at engineering solutions that are possible. That work is ongoing.
“The problem is I don’t know what solutions are available. I know council officers are working closely with Morgan Sindall. As it stands we still don’t know what’s in the realm of possibility and we also don’t know - if it is possible, how much it would cost."
More rain is predicted for the rest of this week with flood warnings remaining in place. For a map of flood warnings and alerts click here.
For more of today's top stories click here.
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