Where Trafford's August works are, from Railway Street to the A56 junctions, plus the M60 Simister scheme now starting and the £130m Carrington road plan.

Trafford’s traffic runs on a small number of pinch points: the A56 spine through Altrincham, Sale and Stretford, the M60 arc around the borough’s north and west, the M56 along the bottom, and the notorious squeeze through Carrington. When one of them has cones on it, everyone knows by 8.15am. This page keeps the current picture in one place: what is being dug up now, the big schemes coming, and the evergreen detail that carries you between updates, which roads carry the load and where to jump onto the tram instead.

What is being worked on right now

Local streets, August 2026. Trafford Council has a batch of works with restrictions running through August, per the live closure feed built from the national Street Manager permit data: Railway Street in the town centre (5 August to 2 September), Oakfield Street (to 28 August), Linden Avenue and Hazel Road (to 31 August), Dunham Road (2 to 13 August), Hale Road (4 to 9 August) and Newton Road (5 to 10 August), among dozens of smaller permits (live Altrincham closures list). Exact traffic management varies from lights to full overnight closures, so check the entry for your street before you plan around it.

The A56 junction upgrades. Trafford and TfGM are rebuilding the A56 Manchester Road junctions with Barrington Road and Sinderland Road in Broadheath as part of the Bee Network active travel scheme, making the junctions safer to walk and cycle through. The first phase ran through August 2025 with further phases following, and TfGM’s scheme page carries the current state (TfGM: A56 Manchester Road works). Expect intermittent lane restrictions at Broadheath while phases are live.

Recently finished: National Highways completed its resurfacing of the M56 between junctions 1 and 3 near Wythenshawe and Cheadle on 21 July 2026, so the airport stretch is running clean again (National Highways North West maintenance).

The big one starting now: M60 Simister Island

The largest motorway scheme in Greater Manchester for years has begun at the other end of the M60. National Highways is rebuilding Junction 18, Simister Island, where the M60, M62 and M66 meet: a new free-flow loop from the M60 eastbound to southbound, a two-lane free-flow link northbound to westbound, a four-lane M66 southbound and a permanent extra lane between junctions 17 and 18. Main construction starts in summer 2026 and runs to 2029/30, at a cost of £255m to £296m. Overnight closures (9pm to 6am) are already rolling across the J17 and J18 slip roads and the M66 (National Highways: M60 J18 Simister Island).

What it means for you: Simister is the junction you pass heading to Bury, Rochdale or the M62 east. For the next three years, allow extra time on evening trips that way and check the closure report before late-night airport runs or away days; the daytime network stays open, but overnight diversions add real minutes.

Coming next: the £130m Carrington Relief Road

The borough’s biggest road project in a generation is on the table for its western edge. The Carrington Relief Road is a proposed 2.7-mile route between Carrington Lane and Manchester Road, designed by Amey with Balfour Beatty lined up to build it, priced at about £130m, with six new signalled junctions and as much space for walking and cycling as for vehicles. The planning application (118033/FUL/25) is in, and construction is expected to start in 2030 (Place North West, 16 January 2026).

The point of it is the queue everyone in Partington and Carrington sits in: the narrow A6144 Carrington Lane and Manchester Road, which also carries the traffic for the New Carrington development area and its planned 5,000 homes. Until the road is built, that single corridor remains the borough’s worst pinch point, and we track the application in our Altrincham planning news.

The evergreen map: which roads carry Trafford

Trafford key routes and pressure points, 2026 Schematic diagram. The M60 arcs across the north of the borough with junction 7 for Stretford and the A56, junction 9 for Trafford Park and junction 10 for the Trafford Centre. The A56 runs diagonally from Stretford through Sale to Altrincham. The M56 runs along the south with junction 6 for Hale Barns and the airport. The A6144 through Carrington in the west is the borough's pinch point, with the relief road planned for 2030. Old Trafford match days load the A56 and Chester Road corridor. Trafford's road skeleton: where the pressure lands M60 J7 Stretford / A56 J9-J10 Trafford Park & Centre A56 Stretford - Sale - Altrincham M56 J6 Hale Barns / Airport A6144 Carrington the pinch point Relief road planned, building from 2030 Old Trafford match days Altrincham Schematic, not to scale. Amber marks the recurring pressure points.
The A56 is the borough's spine, the M60 its shoulder, and the A6144 through Carrington the pinch the £130m relief road is meant to fix.
  • A56 (Chester Road / Cross Street / Dunham Road): the through-borough spine, and the slowest mile is wherever the current junction phase is. On Manchester United and Lancashire cricket match days the Stretford to Old Trafford stretch loads first; go early or go by tram.
  • M60 junctions 7 to 10: Stretford, Trafford Park and the Trafford Centre. Weekday peak plus weekend shopping traffic; J10 queues on Saturday afternoons are normal, not an incident.
  • M56 junctions 6 to 7: the airport run past Hale Barns. Freshly resurfaced between J1 and J3 as of July 2026.
  • A6144 Carrington Lane: the west-of-borough squeeze. No relief until the new road is built; avoid 8 to 9am and 4.30 to 6pm if you can.

The workaround: park and ride on the tram

The borough’s built-in escape from all of the above is the Metrolink line that parallels the A56 the whole way into town. TfGM operates free car parks for Metrolink users at Altrincham, Sale, Stretford and Brooklands stops on the line (Metrolink Access Guide, TfGM), so on a day the A56 is coned you can drive the short leg and let the tram do the rest. Spaces go early on weekdays; by 8am Sale and Brooklands are usually the better bets than Altrincham itself.

Where to check live before you set off

Frequently asked questions

What roadworks are happening in Altrincham right now?

The August 2026 batch includes works on Railway Street (5 August to 2 September), Oakfield Street, Linden Avenue, Hazel Road, Dunham Road and Hale Road, all promoted by Trafford Council, plus the ongoing A56 junction upgrades at Barrington Road and Sinderland Road. The live closures list has the current entry for every street.

What is happening on the A56?

The junctions at Barrington Road and Sinderland Road in Broadheath are being rebuilt for the Bee Network active travel scheme, in phases that began in August 2025 (TfGM). While a phase is live, expect lane restrictions through Broadheath.

Will the M60 Simister Island works affect Trafford?

Day to day, not much: the scheme is at Junction 18, the far side of the M60. But if you drive to Bury, Rochdale or the M62 east, overnight slip-road closures are already running and main construction lasts from summer 2026 to 2029/30 (National Highways).

What is the Carrington Relief Road and when will it be built?

A proposed 2.7-mile, £130m road between Carrington Lane and Manchester Road to bypass the A6144 squeeze and serve the New Carrington development. The planning application is in (ref 118033/FUL/25) and construction is expected to start in 2030 (Place North West).

Where can I park and ride onto the tram?

TfGM runs free car parks for Metrolink users at Altrincham, Sale, Stretford and Brooklands on the Altrincham line. Arrive before 8am for the best chance of a space; our tram times page has frequencies and fares.

Sources

Dates and closures were checked against the linked feeds on 8 August 2026 and can change at short notice; the live maps above are the place to look on the day you travel.