Kingsway (A34)

Kingsway is a dual carriageway in Greater Manchester, England, which runs from Levenshulme to Cheadle. It is approximately 7.3 miles long and is a link road between the city centre and the southern suburbs of Greater Manchester, forming part of the A34. Kingsway was built in the late 1920s between Levenshulme and Parrs Wood, and was originally designed as a combined road and tram route. The tram tracks were eventually removed and the road was later extended to bypass Cheadle and join onto the M60 motorway.[1]

Kingsway
Kingsway dual carriageway as it passes through Cheadle
Route information
Length4.8 mi (7.7 km)
HistoryCompleted in 1930 as the A5079 and named after King George V; now part of the A34
Major junctions
South endCheadle (53.380°N 2.221°W / 53.380; -2.221)
North endLevenshulme (53.442°N 2.206°W / 53.442; -2.206)
Location
Primary
destinations		East Didsbury, Parrs Wood, Burnage, Ladybarn
Road network

History
Kingsway past & present
A 1930s photograph of Kingsway in Burnage with a Corporation Tram travelling on the central reservation
Kingsway as it appears today, with a grassed central reservation

Kingsway was constructed in stages, from 1928, and completed in 1930.[2] It was named after King George V and was originally numbered A5079.

Kingsway was built as a relief road for the congested Wilmslow Road to the west and it was one of the earliest purpose-built roads especially for motor vehicles. Like Princess Road further to the west, Kingsway was designed as a dual carriageway along the "Brodie System", a new civil engineering technique that had been pioneered by John Alexander Brodie in Liverpool, in which the central reservation incorporated reserved track for trams.[2][3]

On either side of the new road, the Manchester Corporation bought up 1,165 acres (4.71 km2) of land to build the Kingsway Housing Scheme, a large council housing scheme to tackle the acute housing shortage in the city. Around 1200 houses were built, along with amenities including new schools, quickly turning a rural area into a sizeable suburban council estate.[4]

Manchester Corporation Tramways eventually ceased operation in 1949 and the tram tracks were removed.[5] In 1959, Kingsway was extended south across the River Mersey to bypass Cheadle. It was later renumbered to A34 in 1967.

Route

Kingsway runs in a south-westerly direction until the junction with the M60 motorway, when it curves around to run south-east. It begins in Levenshulme continuing from Slade Lane, and heads south-west through Fallowfield, Ladybarn, Burnage, and Parrs Wood where it originally ended. It continues south-west through East Didsbury, until it reaches the motorway, and then it heads south-east through Gatley and Cheadle, before it joins to the Handforth bypass at Cheadle Royal which was opened in 1995.[1] The junction with the A560 road in Gatley is one of the busiest in Greater Manchester with over 7000 vehicles passing through during the rush hour.

Places of interest
  • Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre in East Didsbury is on Kingsway.

See also

References
  1. Haywood, Russell (2009). Railways, urban development and town planning in Britain: 1948–2008. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-7546-7392-7.
  2. Rowley, Trevor (2006). The English landscape in the twentieth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 20. ISBN 1-85285-388-3. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  3. Stratton, Michael; Trinder, Barrie (2014). Twentieth Century Industrial Archaeology. Taylor & Francis. p. 126. ISBN 9781136748011. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  4. "Burnage – A History Of Manchester". history.aboutmanchester.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  5. "Greater Manchester Transport Timeline". Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester. Retrieved 7 June 2017.

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