Construction and transport

The planning application assesses extra traffic that the Barton Renewable Energy Plant would create.

Construction traffic for the proposed development would be controlled by the use of a Construction Traffic Management Plan to be agreed with Trafford Council which would ensure lorry movements are controlled and minimised and not pass through residential areas.

Once the plant is operational, extra traffic would have a less than a 1% increase on the existing highway network at Trafford Boulevard. About 30 biomass deliveries a day would take place on weekdays and would be spread evenly between 7am and 7pm on weekdays and Saturday mornings. No traffic is being added to the wider road network as the waste wood is currently transported to landfill sites.

Lorries would leave the M60 motorway at Junction 10, travel along Trafford Boulevard and enter the power plant site via Trafford Quays Leisure Village. The proposed route passes no residential housing.
When the approved Barton Bridge relief road (known as the Western Gateway Infrastructure Scheme) is constructed, road congestion in the area would be further eased.

In the future, the canal may be used for biomass fuel deliveries by barge. Commitment to this is demonstrated in the planning application by the provision of a jetty for barges alongside the proposed site.