The £4.2m first phase of the restoration of the 15-mile Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal (abandoned in 1961), which includes a tunnel under the Salford Inner Relief Road, was officially opened on Friday 19 September 2008. This 500-metre section of the re-built canal will eventually reconnect the waterway at Oldfield Road with the river Irwell through the £600m Middlewood Locks commercial development site, which will include housing, hotels, restaurants, bars and leisure facilities.
The tunnel has made it possible for a navigable channel to be built below the new road. If this had not been done, the canal would have been isolated from the rest of the waterway system. Locks 1 and 2, originally next to the junction with the River Irwell, have been replaced by a single deep lock situated to the west of the railway further away from the river. Ralph [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
