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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Ashlie Blakey

The A555 flooded AGAIN last weekend. What is going on and what are the council doing about it?

Council bosses say that the work done to improve drainage on the A555 Airport Relief Road was 'clearly not enough' after it flooded again last weekend.

The dual carriageway was closed off on Saturday afternoon after cars were seen attempting to wade through several inches of water following heavy rainfall across Greater Manchester.

It was closed in both directions between the Oil Terminal and the A34 junction at Handforth Dean.

It reopened in one direction on Sunday morning, before fully reopening later in the day.

The £290m Manchester Airport Eastern Link Road only opened last October and has already proved it is unable to cope with heavy rain.

In April, three million litres of rainfall had to be pumped off the road, after a month's worth of rain fell on Manchester in a day.

The road flooded again in July with drivers reporting huge pools of standing water on the key route which runs from Hazel Grove to the airport.

Just hours after the bypass was reopened it flooded again in early August, prompting Stockport Conservatives to call for a full investigation  into the issue.

MP for Hazel Grove, William Wragg, also announced plans to raise the matter with council chiefs.

Engineers replaced the failing pumps and removed silt from drainage tanks underneath the road in a bid to solve the problem.

But on Saturday, the roads was closed again prompting local residents to voice their anger over the issue.

A555 closed in August after flood turns it into a river

Graham Leah tweeted: "It's a joke. A brand new road and floods every other week."

Maddi said: "Of course it's flooded. It floods every time it rains."

Mart tweeted: "Not again! How many times before they sort it out?"

Stockport Council now say the replacement of the pumps was 'clearly not enough' to improve the situation.

The A555 pictured in July 2019 after it was flooded (Manchester Evening News)

They have employed consultant engineers to look at what needs to done to solve the problem.

Mark Glynn, Director of Place Management at Stockport Council, said: “We are aware that this stretch of the road has flooded a number of times after persistent, and heavy, rainfall.

“Whilst there was a large amount of surface water around the borough on Saturday, this location was again particularly affected.

“We have recently replaced the pumps and removed silt from the drainage tanks underneath the road to improve the situation but this was clearly not enough.

“We have employed consultant engineers who are looking at what further steps are needed to reduce the likelihood of this happening again.”

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