Work is being done on a major road in Gorton, due to it being a hotspot for road accidents, with 4 deaths in just five years.
A 1.1km section of Hyde Road, from Chapman Street to Laburnum Road, will be having safeguards built from 4th November to the 16th.
This specific section of the road has seen 41 reported collisions since January 2021, with 61 reported casualties, 27 serious casualties and four deaths.
The most recent accident being in August of this year — where a car collided with a digger. This took the lives of Natasha Denman, 24 and Jack Cartwright, 23. This unfortunate accident occurred on August 5th, at around 9:35pm, at the junction joining Hyde Road and Clumber Road.
In a separate incident, in June 2021, cyclist Charlie Lewis, who was 56 years old, lost his life after colliding with a car at 1:46am. The driver of the car was a 66-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, but was later released under investigation.
What is actually happening?
Nine new average speed cameras are being installed from where Hyde Road meets Chapman Street, all the way to where Hyde Road meets Laburnum Road, bordering onto Tameside.
This scheme begins tomorrow and will last for two weeks, thus resulting in partial lane closures outside of peak times.
An average speed camera is different to a normal speed camera, as an average one tracks someone’s speed over a longer distance, rather than at a fixed point. This will help with keeping a consistent speed on a road that has had so many issues.
This is all under the ‘Safer Roads Greater Manchester Partnership’ scheme, which is a multi-agency scheme dedicated on “eliminating road deaths and life-changing injuries by 2040”.
Their scheme is already underway, with a £1 million ‘Vision Zero Innovation’ fund, that has already started 13 projects. They have also began installing 25 more average speed cameras.
Councillor Julie Reid, who is a Labour Councillor for Gorton and Abbey Hey, said that she has been “lobbying for two years to get the funding from the Transport for Greater Manchester”.
Julie Reid also says that this will “really change people’s behaviour” and that it is “absolutely heart-breaking that anybody has been injured or lost their lives because of other people’s behaviour.
“I have been really unhappy since the road was widened about the speed that other people drive at”.
Talking to Manchester Evening News, Councillor Mandie Shilton Godwin, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment and Transport, said “Over the past five years we’ve seen an inordinately high number of collisions taking place.
“We know that when people cut their speed, safety improves. This is why Manchester City Council are working alongside our colleagues at the Safer Roads partnership to improve safety along Hyde Road”.
Apollo Simms, 26, of Tealby Road, Manchester, was charged with two counts of death by dangerous driving and failing to provide a sample for analysis. He appeared in court on 11th August 2026, and will appear again in a few months.