Manchester football traffic warning 'came too late'
- Published
Businesses have said warnings of traffic disruption in Manchester city centre ahead of a Champions League football match came "much too late".
Transport bosses warned people to avoid the area between 16:00 and 19:00, as police escort hundreds of Lyon fans to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.
Transport for Greater Manchester said it updated its advice as soon as it was aware of the police escort.
But Greater Manchester Chamber said firms were not given adequate warning.
Alex Davies, research analyst for the chamber, said: "Businesses in the city centre will be used to the extra chaos on the roads caused by big football matches, and many will once again choose to allow people to leave early in order to get home.
"For those who perhaps weren't aware however, this warning comes much too late, especially when major road works around Regent Road are already causing disruption for commuters."
Earlier warning could have ensured the expected boost to the economy for bars, restaurants, hotels and shops did not come at the expense of workers who wanted to get home, he added.
Police said that after consulting both clubs and French police, they would be guiding Lyon fans from Shambles Square to the ground "to ensure minimal disruption to the local community".
Chief Insp Gareth Parkin said: "There will be some disruption to the city but we don't anticipate it to be on the same scale as previous European fixtures."
From about 17:00 BST, police have planned to use rolling roadblocks to escort some 250 fans to the stadium.
In response, Transport for Greater Manchester urged people to consider working from home, leaving work early or travelling after the evening peak.
A spokesman said: "As soon as we learned of GMP's plans to walk visiting fans from the city centre to the Etihad tonight we updated the travel advice that has been our website for some time."
Rush hour car and tram journeys would be monitored, while extra trams were operating on the Ashton and MediaCityUK lines, he added.