Manchester highways blitz set to take place ahead of winter weather

Two million pounds is being spent to ensure Manchester's roads are future-proofed for the next decade and more

Author: Olivia DaviesPublished 8th Sep 2025

A highways maintenance blitz is due to take place during September to ensure Manchester roads are future-proofed for the next decade and more.

As part of the City Council's commitment to “you say, we do” a large-scale, £1.93m resurfacing programme is set to run throughout September with 53 roads throughout Manchester due to be improved.

The work being carried out will take place in two stages:

Surface Dressing – the area is sprayed with bitumen while stone chips are pressed into the surface with rollers. More chips are then added to the surface to ensure an even cover. The excess chips are swept away; however some will remain and there will be a temporary lowered speed limit until they’re gone – roughly four to five days

Sealing – also known as the ‘Kiely Lock process’ this phase of the resurfacing work involves spraying a sealant that locks in the excess chips and helps to prevent water getting access to the lower sections of the road

This type of resurfacing can prevent additional maintenance needing to take place for up to ten years.

Work will take place across a number of neighbourhoods in Manchester, with a full list of the chosen streets available on the council's website.

The planned improvements will start on Tuesday, 16 September and will continue until Saturday, 27 September.

Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment and Transport, said: “We know that the cold and wet of winter puts additional stress on our roads, add in freezing temperatures and we have a recipe that can make short work of the road surface.

“This is why we’re mobilising now to ensure that we can protect as many roads as possible which not only saves the taxpayer money in the long term, but it makes our journeys quicker and safer.

“Over the past year we have invested heavily in improvements to our highways network as we know from our residents’ feedback it’s one of the issues most important to them. We are confident that this programme of works will be a net positive for our residents and I’d like to thank them ahead of time for their patience as we futureproof our roads for the coming decade.”

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.