A temporary park and ride is set to open in Bury next month ahead of two major Metrolink car park expansions.
The new site will open in Radcliffe on September 6 with 100 parking spaces at first, before a further 150 spaces will be made available by the end of next month.
It comes ahead of huge expansion work at both the Radcliffe and Whitefield car parks, with both sites set to close for periods over the next 12 months.
Whitefield's Metrolink car park is set to increase in size from 208 to 331 spaces, while Radcliffe's will increase from 369 to 480 spaces.
The project gets underway on September 6 in Whitefield, when around 60 parking spaces will be removed to allow the expansion work to begin, on the same day the temporary park and ride opens.
Whitefield park and ride will then close completely at the end of September, including the bus turning circle and bus stops, when the temporary Radcliffe park and ride is at its 250-space capacity.
Normal tram services will operate at Whitefield throughout the closure of the car park, before it is due to reopen with a new parking deck in early 2022.
Meanwhile, Radcliffe's Metrolink car park will close in winter 2021, with an additional parking deck set to be completed by next summer.
The temporary park and ride, which will be near Spring Lane School, will stay open until the Radcliffe work is complete.
Alex Cropper, head of operations at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “Park and ride plays a key role in helping people access the public transport system in Greater Manchester and this project has been carefully planned to ensure customers can still park up and access tram services if they need to.
“While we would encourage everyone to walk or cycle for shorter journeys and use public transport where they can, we know some people do have to drive for a part of their journey and ultimately work will mean there are more spaces available, which will in turn assist them in accessing the Metrolink system.”
For customer safety the drop-off and blue badge spaces at Whitefield will have to be closed during the main construction works, however these will remain available at Radcliffe.
The existing bus stops at Whitefield park and ride, for the 95 service, will be temporarily relocated onto Stanley Road - with services continuing to run.
Any monthly or annual season ticket holders who were parking at Whitefield (Zone 3) and are redirected to Radcliffe or the new temporary car park (Zone 4) during the closure at Whitefield for construction will be able to travel at no extra cost.
For further information please visit tfgm.com and tfgm.com/mcip
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