Leader's pledge for fewer idling buses in plaza

The bus station in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens opened in 1931

A plan to reduce the number of buses idling near a popular city centre area has been unveiled by its council leader.

Manchester City Council wants to re-route vehicles away from Piccadilly Gardens to other parts of the city centre.

Launching the proposals, Bev Craig said the city needed to decide if the area was "our plaza or... our bus station", because at the moment, "it tries to do both and that doesn’t quite work".

The pledge came before a £25m redevelopment of the square, and the final stage of buses being taken back into local control in January.

The re-regulation will mean regional transport bosses will have the say on fares, timetables and routes.

Ms Craig said the council needed "to get our timings right".

"We will be looking to change how buses currently use Piccadilly Gardens, but we will be doing that properly over a period of time," she said.

She said Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) had confirmed that "routing a bus network was complicated", but she believed it was possible to ensure fewer idling buses in the gardens.

Work is underway to redevelop the concrete pavilion in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens

The 10-acre site that is earmarked for regeneration includes the Parker Street bus station, which opened in 1931.

Work is already under way to redevelop the concrete pavilion in Piccadilly Gardens, dividing the structure into two buildings and removing the canopy between them.

That work is expected to be completed soon by the owners, Legal and General.

A controversial concrete structure dubbed a 'Berlin Wall', designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando ahead of the Commonwealth Games 2002, was demolished in 2020.