Kingsway is a dual carriageway in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which runs from

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6. Levenshulme is predominantly re ...

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 A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

route. The tram tracks were eventually removed and the road was later extended to bypass Cheadle and join onto the

M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through most of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bol ...

History

Kingsway was constructed in stages, from the mid-1920s, and completed in 1930. It was named after

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and was originally numbered A5079. Kingsway was built as a relief road for the congested

Wilmslow Road Wilmslow Road is a major road in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood northwards to Rusholme. There it becomes Oxford Road and the name changes again to Oxford Street when it crosses the River Medlock and reaches the city centre. Th ...

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 A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

along the "Brodie System", a new

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

technique that had been pioneered by

John Alexander Brodie John Alexander Brodie (1858 – 1934) was an English civil engineer. He was especially known for his contribution to town planning in Liverpool, notably as one of the engineers who led the design of the Mersey Tunnel under the River Merse ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, in which the

central reservation The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also a ...

incorporated

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for trams (in the US, typically called a "private right-of-way"). Description Unlike street running track embedded in streets and roads, reserved track does not need ...

for

s. On either side of the new road, the

Manchester Corporation Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

bought up of land to build the Kingsway Housing Scheme, a large

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

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 In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

into a sizeable suburban

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

Manchester Corporation Tramways Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways (known as Manchester Corporation Transport Department from 1929 onwards) was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation ca ...

eventually ceased operation in 1949 and the tram tracks were removed. In 1959, Kingsway was extended south across the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

to bypass Cheadle. It was later renumbered to A34 in 1967.

Route

Kingsway runs in a south-westerly direction until the junction with the

, when it curves around to run south-east. It begins in

continuing from Slade Lane, and heads south-west through

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a suburb of Manchester, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 15,211. Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east–west by Wilmslow Road and north–south by Wil ...

Ladybarn Ladybarn is a small suburban area in Manchester, England, around Ladybarn Lane. It is now part of Manchester's urban sprawl but some of the village's original cobbled streets remain. The oldest properties are probably Rose Cottages, dating from th ...

Burnage Burnage is a suburb of the city of Manchester in North West England, about south of Manchester city centre and bisected by the dual carriageway of Kingsway. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the population of the Bur ...

, and Parrs Wood where it originally ended. It continues south-west through

East Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counti ...

, until it reaches the motorway, and then it heads south-east through

Gatley Gatley is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles north-east of Manchester Airport. History Toponymy Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, in 1290, Gatley was known as ''Gate ...

and Cheadle, before it joins to the

Handforth Handforth is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 6,266. In the 1960s and 1970s, two overspill housing estates, Spath Lane in Handforth, and Colshaw Farm nearby in Wi ...

bypass at Cheadle Royal which was opened in 1995. The junction with the

A560 road The A560 is a primary route that runs from the A56 in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, to Hattersley, Tameside. It follows a complex route that involves primary route, non-primary route, single and dual carriageway, some complex motorway junctio ...

in Gatley is one of the busiest in Greater Manchester with over 7000 vehicles passing through during the

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

Places of interest

* Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre in East Didsbury is on Kingsway.

References

External links

Journey along Kingsway key artery of south Manchester and pioneering road
* Aerial photographs of Kingsway showing the tram lines and construction of council houses. * - Photograph looking north along Kingsway from junction with Poplar Road, showing scaffolding on St Nicholas' Church, Kingsway Garage and tram tracks in the central reservation *

Oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

project describing the tram line along Kingsway, collected by th
Burnage Memory Bank Project
* Photo of a coroporation tram at the junction of Moseley Road and Kingsway * Photo of Kingsway tram tracks being dug up after the closure of the tram network in 1949.
Map of Manchester's trams in 1944
Roads in England Roads in Greater Manchester Tram transport in Greater Manchester {{Manchester A&S

History

Route

Places of interest

See also

References

External links