Car horns blare on Thursday afternoon as a group of men cross Stockport Road, wandering between cars instead of using the designated crossing point, sparking fury among drivers. Traffic never calms on this road over a couple of hours, and on the pavement at least 10 cars are parked on double yellow lines.
One of the liveliest parts of the road is the junction with Slade Lane, where traffic lights filter motorists. Two lanes from Slade Lane and two from Stockport Road merge, but because of parked cars, it effectively becomes four lanes merging into one, with congestion backing up as drivers fight to edge ahead.
Residents and traders speak out
It has been dubbed Manchester's 'worst' road. Many shopkeepers say they've seen accidents and deaths on a patch of tarmac that has been 'horrendous' since the 1990s. “It's one of the worst roads in Manchester, it's total chaos in the evenings,” an exhausted-looking traffic warden says, one of many patrolling Stockport Road one night earlier this week. Asked what it's like trying to enforce traffic rules, he responds bleakly: “It's hard work. A lot of cars park on single yellow or double yellow, and people don't understand why they're getting a ticket, they'll plead with you just to give them one more minute. It can be very difficult.”
Data kept by Transport for Greater Manchester points to a major safety problem. A fatality happened in 2025 at the junction with Slade Lane, and further up by Stanley Road and Dickenson Road the area is littered with accident reports, with multiple minor and serious collisions logged since 2024.
Concerns for safety and future incidents
Nicola McLoughlin, 47, a Longsight native, said many of her friends simply won't drive down Stockport Road because of how bad it is. “It is quite dangerous here and it's always busy, it's always like this every day, constant traffic from seven in the morning to night time,” she said. “They put the traffic lights in to make it easier to cross this road, but people still cross in the middle anyway.” Asked what could be done, she added: “I think there should be double yellow lines all the way down this road, and traffic wardens. The reason so many cars just stop on the lines is they're not bothered and they've got no respect for the area, they just find it easier to park right in front of a shop. It worries me when kids are here at home time after school, and what could happen.”
Yasin Mohad, 52, has run a business on Stockport Road for seven years near the junction with Slade Lane. He said: “It's always very busy here on Stockport Road, it's because there are a lot of traffic lights around. It can be really dangerous here, but that's life. I saw an accident happen about six months ago, it was right here. The issue is, it's a very small area for the cars to use, and there is a lot of traffic, it would help if the road was wider.”
Business challenges and council response
Naveed Rasool, 46, runs a family furniture business on Stockport Road which his late father set up in the 1980s. There's no direct parking outside his shop, making it difficult to move heavy items, but he accepts this is a unique problem to his business. He said: “There have been deaths on this road in previous years. I've been working on this road for years, in this shop for about 20 years, the traffic is really bad, but what can they do about it? It's been a problem since the '90s. I understand why people aren't happy getting fines for parking, but you have to think about the council's point of view in terms of road safety. The biggest challenge for me as a business is the lack of parking near the shop, but that's just one individual business, the council has to think of the wider picture of the whole area.” He said that around 15 years ago a group of traders came together to push the council to make changes, some considering not paying business rates unless things changed, but they eventually dropped the threat. “Since then, it's pretty much stayed like this.”
Some locals, like 65-year-old Longsight resident Tom, who moved to Manchester from Ireland, were resigned to nothing ever changing. He said: “There have been a lot of people killed here. It's a problem with the drivers in my view, some of them end up nearly going through red lights, blocking the crossing points. But it's hard to know what to do, what can the council really do to change anything here?”
Manchester council said the junction of Stockport Road and Slade Lane is in need of new investment, and that 'potential improvements' are being looked at. Its own enforcement officers have dished out 53 fines in the last three months alone, visiting the road 336 times. A spokesperson said: “The council takes safety on our roads extremely seriously - this is why we have adopted vision zero - a commitment to eradicating death and serious injury on our roads by 2040. A wide array of localised and citywide initiatives are currently in development so that we can meet our vision zero ambitions and create a fairer, safer and better transport network. We also recognise the danger that illegal parking can – and does – cause in this area. Restrictions are also in place to prevent loading and waiting during peak periods on the road, but as is the case across our network, some drivers will continue to park illegally despite our deterrent. We understand how frustrating this can be to drivers who obey the rules of the road.”
Part of the work includes 'educating our drivers on the dangers of illegal parking', the council added. The spokesperson added: “A critical part of delivering vision zero in Manchester is ensuring that all our road users are behaving safely, both to protect themselves and others. Where education isn't sufficient, we will continue to undertake effective enforcement operations.”
