GRIDLOCK IS GETTING WORSE

LAST WEEKEND WAS CITY CENTRE'S BUSIEST ON RECORD - WITH THE POLICE NOW BEING USED TO SOLVE ROAD CHAOS

- By ETHAN DAVIES & JAMES HOLT

GRIDLOCKED roads, honking horns and long delays have become a common sight in Manchester in the run up to Christmas, and the latest data shows things are getting worse.

Last weekend, the city centre experienced its busiest two days on record, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. There were an estimated 1.4 million journeys made into the city centre over Saturday and Sunday.

It is the highest number of visitors since traffic flow records began in early 2020. And, data shows, that was a staggering 200,000 more journeys than seven days earlier - when the M.E.N reported a weekend of misery, caused by huge tailbacks.

Angry motorists fumed the 'whole of town had become a car park' with pictures showing jammed routes along Deansgate, Quay Street, Bridge Street and Princess Street.

Now, it has been confirmed the police will now be drafted in to help deal with the swelling number of vehicles.

On Friday and Saturday night, Trinity Way, Chapel Street and Shudehill were heavily congested, as were other major routes near to Piccadilly, with delays also seen on tram services around the city centre.

One Instagram video, titled 'Traffic Chaos at Manchester Piccadilly Station' showed queues of taxis 'blocking' the area outside the railway station adding to congestion on Saturday.

Another motorist questioned on X: “What even is the Manchester traffic these days? Just spent half an hour driving what would've been a 18 min walk” as another posted: “Manchester please sort your roads out what the f*** was that traffic.”