Media centre

Thursday 13 Jun 2019

Reminder of road closures for restoration of Manchester city centre railway bridges

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Motorists are being reminded about further road closures next week for the refurbishment of three historic railway bridges in Manchester city centre.

The Grade II listed bridges outside Manchester Victoria station are being returned to their Victorian splendour in an upgrade which will secure their future for decades to come.

The road closures needed include:

• Victoria Street being fully closed to road traffic from 00:01 on 17 June to 23:59 22 June 2019.
• Mirabel Street staying closed at the Victoria Street junction until late July 2019.

The project was due to be complete in June, but the discovery of structural defects hidden by layers of old paintwork on the 175-year-old structures means the work has been extended into July.

While diversions for traffic will be in place during the road closures, pedestrian access will not be affected and trains will continue to run as normal.

Network Rail has worked closely with heritage groups to ensure the bridges are properly restored.

Corroded decorative steelwork has been painstakingly reproduced and forged by specialist blacksmiths in the West Midlands.

Historic paint analysis has also been carried out so the bridges are returned near to their original colour scheme.

Sarah Padmore, scheme project manager for Network Rail, said: “Work to expose the metal structures on the Victorian Great Ducie Street bridges has now been completed, giving our engineers access to carry out vital repairs needed to keep the bridges safe for decades to come.

“To safely complete this work, we need to close Victoria Street to vehicles for a further six days.

“We are really sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to people and would like to thank residents and motorists for their patience.”

Passengers can plan and check their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk.