Alright folks, so this morning I stumble out of bed way earlier than usual – garbage truck outside woke me up right proper. Cup of coffee number one barely kicking in, scrolling mindlessly like you do, and bam! See people tweeting about traffic backed up something fierce near Manchester. Pure chaos. My first thought? Oh god, please not another accident messing up people’s commutes. Had to dig deeper.
Starting the Snoop
First thing I did? Grabbed my tablet and fired up Google Maps, right? Zoomed straight into Manchester city centre. Saw this big fat solid red line all down the Mancunian Way, specially bad past the Regent Road junction. Like, absolutely crawling. Not the usual Monday morning shuffle. That deep red screamed “SOMETHING’S WRONG HERE MATE”. Figured I’d check the council feeds – nothing fresh posted yet.
Hitting the Socials
Hopped onto Twitter next, obviously. Searched #ManchesterTraffic and boom. Feed lighting up like a Christmas tree. Loads of people stuck saying stuff like:
- “Been sat near Regent Road Flyover for 20 mins! At a standstill!”
- “Saw loads of flashing blues just got on Mancunian Way. Avoid!!”
- “Heard a proper crunch before traffic died. Hope everyone ok??”
Found this one bloke tweeting pics – DannyLorry, his handle was. Bit blurry, but clear enough: two cars right up on the hard shoulder near Regent Road, front ends mashed together. Looked like maybe one tried to change lanes and didn’t see the other. Traffic police cars blocking lane one completely. No ambulances in his shots, thank god, but police were definitely on scene handling it.
The Official Word
Took ages, but finally around 8:45 AM local, the transport police Twitter account coughs up an update:
“Incident on A57(M) Mancunian Way eastbound near Regent Road. Two vehicles involved. Lane one closed for recovery. Expect significant delays.”
Classic, right? Tells us what we basically already knew from folks stuck in it. Why they always so slow?
Finding Ways Around the Mess
Right, people need to get places, don’t they? Had to work out the diversions. Watched real-time maps and saw most sat navs rerouting people off early onto Regent Road. Bit of a pain, adds time if you’re heading for the city centre proper. Others were spilling off onto side streets near Hulme, causing local jams there too. Basically, if you could avoid the whole stretch? Avoid it! Stick to the A56 if coming from the west or go way out towards Old Trafford instead. Just adds 20+ minutes to any journey into town.
Wrapping Up The Headache
Checked back at half ten, recovery crews were finally hauling the cars away, but lane one still shut, police tape and cones everywhere. Traffic still nose-to-tail crawling past, everyone rubbernecking to see the damage. That lane closure choked things for hours after. Honestly, these morning pile-ups just mess everything up. Makes you proper mad for the people stuck in it, missing appointments or work. Hope everyone involved was alright though, that’s the main thing. Official channels were useless today – socials beat ’em by miles. Gotta feel for those needing that lane open; probably still stuck in it!