Salford Rise

In March 2020 Salford City Council and University of Salford jointly appointed the English Cities Fund as developer partner for the Crescent area. A Development Framework for the area was subsequently approved by the council in January 2021, setting out the vision for the future of the area and ambition of the partners over the next 10+years. You can view this ambitious new Development Framework here.

It is a very ambitious development programme, which covers 99 hectares of city centre Salford. The area is comprised of six distinct development zones, including the Crescent Innovation District, which sits adjacent to the University of Salford and has potential to deliver over 1 million sqft of new commercial and innovation floorspace over the next decade and beyond in addition to new homes and significant new areas of public realm. The Crescent Innovation District has huge potential not only for Salford but the wider region. Through its focus on research, collaboration between industry and academia on the innovation and sustainability agendas, we have a unique opportunity to provide the skills and future job opportunities for our residents and businesses in the industries of the future.

In October 2021, the council secured £13.17m from the Governments Levelling Up Fund to deliver ‘Salford Rise’ - a key infrastructure and public realm project within the Crescent Innovation District. Salford Rise represents the first step in our work to unlock the potential of the Crescent Innovation District. The project will involve the removal of physical barriers (such as security fences) between the communities to the north of the Crescent area and their replacement with new walking and cycling connections and large areas of new, high-quality public realm, trees and other planting and public spaces and provide spaces for the community (both residential and business) to relax and connect. Importantly, it will also deliver a new landscaped podium structure over Frederick Road, providing a safer connection over this busy highway while also joining up the two sides of the Innovation District.

The aim of the project is to better connect communities to the north of the Crescent Innovation District with the wealth of employment and education opportunities and leisure assets across the wider Crescent area to the south, including the University Campus, Peel Park, the Meadow, Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the Working Class Movement Library. The project will also help to unlock new development plots across the Innovation District, and set a new design quality benchmark for the area, helping us to attract new, innovative industries of the future to Salford to collaborate with the research experts at the University.

Salford Rise is not only a critical early project for the Crescent Innovation District, as the wider Crescent area also forms a key component of Salford’s Innovation Triangle and the Innovation Greater Manchester proposal – our blueprint for translational innovation between Greater Manchester and Government which will catalyse inclusive economic growth and support the UK in achieving its levelling up ambitions.

Update on project start on-site and sequencing of works

Eric Wright Civil Engineering have been appointed as the main contactor to deliver Salford Rise and ahead of the main bridge construction phase, they will be undertaking some essential preparatory works, starting on 16 September 2024.
 
These works will consist of the removal of bollards and the opening up of Strawberry Hill to the junction of Lissadel Street and diverting a number of combined sewers in the area, this will include works on Scarsdale Street, Frederick Road, Wynne Street, Lissadel Street and Leslie Hough Way. Wynne Street will also be permanently closed, to allow for the Salford Rise bridge to be constructed, as that is where the approach ramps will be situated.
 
The initial preparatory works will involve traffic restrictions and full road closures at various points on Lissadel Street and Scarsdale Street and a temporarily closure of Frederick Road throughout November 2024 (diversion routes will be in place). The schedule of these restrictions has been sequenced to minimise disruption to access and traffic flows. Access to residential and commercial properties will be maintained throughout the works, but there may be some delays on journeys.
 
The indicative dates below highlight where Eric Wright we will be working and when. If you have any queries about the works or the project, please email salfordrisesupport@ericwright.co.uk.

Once the preparatory works are completed, the main construction works for Salford Rise will take place from October 2024 and complete in summer 2026.
 
The downloadable documents at the bottom of this page provide an overview of the extent of the Salford Rise project and the sequencing of where the enabling works will be happening and when.

This page was last updated on 3 October 2024