Bypass has cost £13.7m already

A controversial congestion saving by-pass has already cost a massive £13.7m of public money - despite not a foot of tarmac ever being laid.The 3.5 mile Mottram-Tintwistle by-pass is set to cost £183m and is expected to take thousands of vehicles a day away from overcrowded village roads on the edge of Tameside.But over the past three years almost one tenth of the total cost has been spent just preparing the scheme.And the proposal is currently on hold after a public inquiry - which has already been hit by several delays due to mistakes by the Highways Agency - was adjourned indefinitely because the Agency said it needed more time to get its figures right.The hearing started in June last year and was expected to last about 10 weeks but the Agency is currently making its FIFTH attempt to draw up the right plans for the by-pass.Now documents obtained by the M.E.N show that since August 2004 and October last year, £13,782,505.24 has been spent on the scheme.

The full article can be found on the Manchester Evening News website.