Manchester seeks views on future of Deansgate

As with many MCC consultations they will ignore all the responses and allow the Highways Engineers to giddily wreak havoc through over-engineering. Hope you’re all looking forward to a sea of tarmac, guard-rails galore, harsh kerbs, motorway-style lighting, ugly filter lanes, and garish paint.

The “new” upgrades to Deansgate are so hostile and uninviting. I wish the council would just take some initiative and fully pedestrianise the whole street. It could be a world class boulevard destination with cafes and flagship stores. A good alternative to Market Street…

Deansgate should be pedestrianised and cater for al fresco cafés and bars.

Make it a tree lined pedestrian street similar to La Rambla in Barcelona – all the way along from Manchester Cathedral to Deansgate Tram stop entrance. If buses need access then one lane going through the middle. This could be incredibly special if done correctly.

considering what happened to Great Ancoats Street, I am sceptical, but maybe lessons will be learnt

Deansgate used to be one of the ‘main’ shopping roads in Manchester. MCC keep making it worse, the most recent semi-temporary-ish one-way system with plastic cones and a bit of road works make it totally confusing for any road users.

By getting rid of roads and parking, people just avoid the city centre. Coupled with more people choose to work from home at least a couple of days a week, Manchester City Centre is no longer busy like it was and I doubt it will ever be back to a the level of footfall a few years back.

Manchester is no longer busy? I’d argue that some parts have become too busy, particularly at lunch times.
Also, every area they have pedestrianised in Manchester over the years are some of the busiest in the city e.g. Market St and Canal St.
Nice try though.

I say pedestrianise it all.

Agree with the other comments this should be pedestrianised, with cycle lanes.

Done properly this could be brilliant for the city as long as they only allow the TFGM free bus to operate along the road and ban the private bus companies with their clapped out buses. Oh and don’t allow the lunatics delivering food on bikes on there either.

Deansgate has some of the best architecture in Manchester but the road and the pavements look awful, It’s always dirty and uninviting. I do like the idea of pedestrianisation, perhaps some new lighting and cobbles to give it more appeal.

Well, from the the statements I’ve seen in the past and with the huge numbers of apartments and offices being built in and around the city centre, the population of the centre Will apparently treble in the next decade or so. Even if pedestrianisation doesn’t feel right now, it will soon.

Pedestrianise it it’s the only way to go with targets on air quality carbon neutrality etc this is surely the way forwards but would need excellent transport around the area to make access easy

Please pedestrianise with access for sustainable vehicles, cycles and emergency hicles only and trees

Build A new metrolink line. It could be the start of an expanded metrolink running inside the city centre and a circle line.

Just part of an agenda to become a 15 minute city. World economic forum ideology. No thanks. Roads need opening up, traffic flow freeing up and instead road space is reduced, one ways, closures, pedestrianisation. Disappointing.

European boulevard??? Its cold and raining 8 months of the year

Deansgate has got some iconic architecture and that should not change, and there is little or no way to get around the city now without incurring a fine unless you are a cyclist, MCC have a dreadful reputation for making a mess of Manchester along with A.Burnham and his plans for a clean air zone, which as a matter of interest he does not live inside, put people on the streets day and night and ask the people and businesses who plough money into Manchester city centre daily.

Although the pedestrianisation idea isn’t bad. Not sure if it will be a good alternative. It’s already a hassle for some people to drive through the city and get to one place. With more roads being closed idk if it’s going to be a good thing. I’d say just alternatively make the street look nicer as a whole and much cleane.

It worked really well in the pandemic I rode my bike and also enjoyed walking. I think some provision for taxis at the ends and at side streets off would help. Obviously at night people need to be able to walk to a taxi. Reasonably close would be acceptable.

Given Manchester’s status as a regional capital it should be self-sufficient in consulting its local community and defining/delivering an updated street “Deansgate” especially when some of the local community are national organisations.

It would be fantastic if funds from government were provided to much needed areas outside of Manchester.

Deansgate should have been pedestrianised 20 years ago. Spending money on it and then allowing vehicles to use it will be a waste of money, just bite the bullet and do it properly.

Fully pedestrianised, with the opportunity to use the space for outdoor cafes, bars, seating, etc.

Sadly Deansgate, once the main thoroughfare, is now a total embarrassment. Get rid of the food delivery bikes, they have no road sense and happily get in the way of pedestrians. MCC regrettably never takes notice of what the people of this city actually need or want. It most certainly is not a “user friendly” city. A great disappointment.

Maybe as a service road just for delivery and maybe taxis and buses too.

Very commendable but what provision will be in place for acces to the night time economy venues on or off Deansgate. I recently attended the Opera House theatre in the mid week when grid lock on all the roads in and around Deangate made it almost impossible to access the theatre and surrounding areas.
Congestion has increased from the alleged improvements already made to Deansgate ovr the years, do the City Council want night time visitors to the City or make it a total car free zone. The cities theatres attract a high number of out of the area visitors in cars and coaches many of whom are unaware of the existing traffic limiting arrangements on Deansgate deterring many repeat visitors.
There must be a wholly inclusive scheme to keep the night time City economy attractive to visitors who may arrive by private cars.

Les Baker – It is car domination that is the problem. Ideally someone travelling to the Opera House by car and especially coach, would access Quay Street via the ring road, rather than Deansgate. Some people need to use cars, sometimes there journeys will need to take them in to cities, but this should not be at the detriment of every other user of the city centre.

Suggest reduce to 2 lanes (1 each direction) to be used by Buses and Greater Manchester registered Taxis only. Widen pavements both sides. Free bus cycling end to end of Deansgate for pedestrians wanting to get from one end to the other. Council to give shops option to lease pavement infront of shop for extra outside space, lease agreement should not be blanket 12 month arrangement but innovate so that shops / restraunts can use the space if and when they need it for example on sunny evening in the summer? and not on rainy evenings in January.

Pedestrianisation of the maximum length possible should be done as soon as possible. This is critical in making our city stand out and compete with other cities.

The city has become a really difficult place to access by car which is totally unreasonable for a large city as public accessibility underpins the local economy. People are avoiding the centre which is bad for business and makes the area prone to antisocial behaviour. In London the main thoroughfare would never be stopped up like this. All it does is create traffic and makes the shops / businesses difficult to access. The cars/vans of the future will be cleaner but what good is that if you can’t get around the city centre. Tradespeople, shoppers and business visitors cannot use always use public transport or bikes. It a well laid out wide roman road, so just open it back to a normal and easy to navigate two way street with bike lanes and that will make it accessible again to people travelling in from the local towns to work / shop and be much more open to visitors. The current level of one way and anti-car restrictions are absurd for a large city; they make the city centre antisocial and inaccessible.

If you think central Manchester is difficult to access for car users try accessing it by bike or public transport! Motorists have it easy, as usual