Time-lapse released as Greek Street roundabout reopens after £20m upgrade

Saturday 28 Mar 2026

Time-lapse released as Greek Street roundabout reopens after £20m upgrade

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: North West

A new railway bridge supporting a four-way roundabout above the West Coast Main Line in Stockport has reopened after a year-long overhaul.

Network Rail has invested £20m completely replacing Greek Street bridge to secure both the road above and railway below for the next 120 years.

Today (Saturday 28 March) impressive time-lapse footage of the project has been released to mark the reopening of the major junction linking Stockport with Edgeley. Traffic restrictions were lifted yesterday evening (Friday 27 March) at around 8pm.

Last August the former 67-year-old structure was removed and replaced with a new bridge comprised of 51 structural elements – all lifted in by crane during a 21-day railway closure.

Since then work to reinstate the carriageway, buried utilities like drainage, power cables and gas and water mains has taken place.

On the eve of the reopening (Thursday 26 March), local schoolchildren from St Matthew's and Our Lady's were given special road safety lessons now the road network will become much busier around their school.

Local business owners impacted by the essential upgrade also had the chance to meet the project team from contractor Murphy and Network Rail.

Patrick Vallely, Network Rail Capital Delivery head of Buildings and Civils, said: “Seeing traffic running smoothly once more at Greek Street is a proud moment for us all who’ve been working on this project for many years.

“Replacing Greek Street bridge was a massive feat of civil engineering which has impacted people right across Stockport for over a year, so I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone for bearing with us. This essential project now secures the future of this structure and will provide a safe and reliable road and railway network for decades to come.”

Councillor Mark Roberts, Leader of Stockport Council, said: “The reopening of Greek Street Bridge is a really important moment for Stockport and marks the successful completion of a complex project delivered on time.

"This was essential maintenance work that couldn’t be avoided, and completing it now has helped future‑proof a vital part of our transport network so it remains safe and reliable for years to come.Restoring this key route will make a real difference for residents, commuters and local businesses, and I want to thank everyone for their patience and support over the past 12 months.

"Completing this project is another step forward in our wider transport vision, strengthening connectivity and helping us build a transport network, incorporating Metrolink, that works for everyone.”

Jamie Rothwell, transportation managing director at contractor Murphy, said: “This project is testament to the expertise and collaboration between the Murphy and Network Rail team, and our supply chain partners, who all worked together to realise this complex and critical upgrade.

"We are grateful for the support received by the local community whilst we have been on site and are pleased to be able to hand back this improved and future-proofed structure which will serve the local community for many years to come.”

As part of the project, a much-admired mosaic which was part of the former bridge was retained and reinstalled on the new structure and was also unveiled yesterday.

The work in Stockport is part of Network Rail’s major investment programme into the West Coast Main Line, which will see £400m improvements to Europe’s busiest mixed-use passenger and freight railway lines over the next year.

To find out more about this project, visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/greekstreet

Notes to Editors

Details about the bridge replacement:

Around 100 engineers per day worked around the clock to rebuild the Greek Street bridge over the 21-day full railway closure last August.
It saw 200 concrete beams on the previous 67-year-old structure removed by two huge cranes, with a combined capacity of 1300 tonnes.
The redundant bridge beams were carefully placed to the ground and taken off site by a fleet of 67 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
With a 60m cavernous gap where the old bridge used to be, the team then lifted the new 51 parts by the two crawler cranes, which had a maximum hoisting height of 196m.
18 sections of the new structure were police escorted to site due to their size and weight.
The new bridge structure is made up of 10 concrete cills, 22 steel beams, 6 concrete beams and 13 parapet wall sections made of concrete and faced with brick to match the previous bridge colour.

Other details:

Greek Street Bridge reopened to traffic following the completion of essential maintenance and strengthening works delivered in partnership with Network Rail, Murphy, Transport for Greater Manchester and Stockport Council officers. The work was required to ensure the long‑term safety and reliability of the bridge and could not be delayed.
A community celebration event will take place on Castle Street this morning (28 March) to mark the reopening and celebrate the Edgeley community.
The project supports the council’s wider transport ambitions for the borough, including improved connectivity and future public transport opportunities, including Metrolink

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.