A5103 road
The A5103 is a major road in England. It runs from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre to junction 3 of the M56 motorway and is one of Manchester's principal radial routes.
History
The original scheme for a new road through the rural area south of Manchester was the design of the urban planner Richard Barry Parker, who envisaged the creation of a parkway – a broad, landscaped highway – to run from the new garden suburb of Wythenshawe, connecting it with Manchester City Centre. Manchester Corporation began construction of the new Princess Parkway in 1929 with a new bridge over the River Mersey. The new road was laid out as a dual carriageway for motor vehicles with a segregated tram track along the central reservation for Manchester Corporation Tramways to run trams into Manchester City Centre.Princess Road/Princess Parkway was one of two new arterial roads into Manchester built by Manchester Corporation; the other was Kingsway, a few miles to the east, also built as a dual carriageway with reserved tram tracks along the middle. This layout was known as the 'Brodie' system, a new approach to road design that had been pioneered in Liverpool by John Alexander Brodie. The first tracks were laid out in the 1920s, terminating at Southern Cemetery; Manchester Corporation Transport planned to extend the tracks to Northenden and Wythenshawe, but following a change in transport policy in 1930, the Corporation invested in bus services instead. Manchester Corporation Tramways eventually ceased operation in 1949 and the tram tracks were removed.
Parker's scenic Parkway route, running south from Barlow Moor Road to Altrincham Road, was noted for its landscaped verges and rose beds. In its 1945 plan, Manchester Corporation proposed extending the road northwards into the city centre and south through Ollerton and Toft, creating a major traffic route into the city. In 1969, work began to upgrade Princess Parkway to motorway standards, in order to feed into the M56 motorway. To enable this work, Parker's landscaping was removed, with 50,000 trees and shrubs being uprooted, and pedestrian footbridges were installed, and an old country house, Kenworthy Hall, was demolished.
In 1997, the Hulme Arch Bridge designed by Chris Wilkinson Architects and Arup was installed over Princess Road in the Hulme area.
Route description
A6 to the Mancunian Way
This short section is entirely single-carriageway: it runs in roughly a north–south direction from the junction of the A6 and A62 along Portland Street. It then shares a short section with the A34 running west until St Peter's Square. After St Peter's Square, it proceeds south-west along Lower Mosley Street, running past the Manchester Central Convention Complex, and the Bridgewater Hall. It then turns south along Albion and Medlock Streets, where it meets the Mancunian Way at a roundabout.Princess Road (A57(M) motorway to the M60 motorway)
This section is entirely dual carriageway primary route leading in a southerly direction. The entire section is officially called Princess Road, but many locals refer to it as Princess Parkway. This section predominantly has a speed limit. Just before the M60 J5, the speed limit goes up to 40 mph.The road runs through Hulme, Moss Side and Whalley Range, passing William Hulme Grammar School, Whalley Range High School and Southern Cemetery on the way.
This section has many traffic light controlled junctions, including major junctions with the A6010 Manchester middle ring road and A5145 Barlow Moor Road. south of its junction with the A5145, the road crosses the River Mersey and meets the M60 motorway at a large free-flow interchange at junction 5. The speed limit also goes up to 40 mph.