Drivers in Greater Manchester faced major disruption in Tameside today as a serious incident brought the M67 motorway to a complete standstill. The key commuter route linking the M60 to Hyde and the western end of the A57 Snake Pass was fully blocked in one direction for several hours, triggering long delays, local gridlock and knock-on congestion across the wider network. With emergency services on scene and National Highways issuing rolling updates, anyone travelling through the area has been urged to allow significant extra time, follow signed diversions and check the latest traffic information before setting off.
Where the M67 Incident Happened and How the Motorway Is Affected
The disruption centres on the short but strategically important stretch of the M67 that cuts through Tameside, east of Manchester. The closure is focused between junctions close to Denton and Hyde, a corridor that carries thousands of vehicles each weekday as part of the wider route between Manchester, the Peak District and Glossop. With this section locked down by the incident, normal eastbound and westbound flows have been severely curtailed, and at times fully halted, leaving motorists trapped in long tailbacks.
National Highways traffic officers and police implemented a full closure on the affected carriageway shortly after the incident was reported, with access blocked at key entry points to prevent additional vehicles joining the queues. Traffic caught within the closure has been carefully managed, with controlled releases where safe to do so. The result for most drivers, however, has been extended stationary periods on the approach to Tameside, especially for those coming from the M60 orbital or heading out of Greater Manchester towards the A57 and Derbyshire.
Because the M67 acts as a feeder to other busy regional routes, even a relatively short closure can ripple across the network. This has been evident in growing congestion on local A-roads that run parallel to the motorway, as navigation apps and official diversions redirect drivers through Denton, Hyde and surrounding communities. For residents, that has meant slower local journeys, bus delays and more pressure on already constrained junctions and roundabouts.
What We Know So Far About the Major Incident
Details emerging from the scene point to a serious incident that required an immediate and comprehensive response from emergency services. Police, paramedics and National Highways officers responded to calls reporting a collision on the carriageway, prompting the decision to close the motorway while they worked. The nature and severity of the incident has not yet been fully confirmed, but the length of the closure indicates a complex situation, possibly involving multiple vehicles or requiring specialist investigation work.
Standard procedure in such circumstances is to preserve the scene for collision investigators, while ensuring the safety of trapped motorists and roadside personnel. That typically involves shutting access slips, enforcing a clear perimeter around the incident, and in some cases reversing or slowly escorting traffic back to previous junctions. This process is time consuming, particularly on a relatively narrow motorway like the M67, where there is limited room on the hard shoulder and central reservation to reroute vehicles.
Authorities have also had to factor in the ongoing infrastructure works and maintenance activity that have been taking place on key routes in and around Tameside. With other planned roadworks affecting corridors such as the A57 and M60 at different points, there is added sensitivity to how diversions are drawn up and how quickly traffic can be moved away from the incident site. While the priority remains public safety, the scale of the disruption reflects just how vital this short motorway is to east Greater Manchester.
Current Delays, Diversions and Alternative Routes Through Tameside
Motorists heading towards Tameside from the M60 have faced the sharpest delays, with queues building back onto the orbital as drivers encounter closure signs and are forced off well ahead of the incident. At peak times, journey times through the area have extended by up to an hour or more, particularly for those who did not receive early warnings or who attempted to remain on the strategic network rather than using local routes.
Official diversions have focused on routing traffic via the A57 and other parallel A-roads that run through Denton and Hyde. Eastbound drivers have been directed off the M60 and guided through local corridors towards Mottram, while westbound traffic approaching from the A57 has been encouraged to remain on main A-roads and join the motorway network closer to Manchester, avoiding the closed section of the M67. These routes, however, are already busy commuter corridors and have quickly become congested.
For drivers who have flexibility, avoiding the Tameside corridor entirely has been the most effective option. That can involve routing via alternative motorway combinations to the north or south of Greater Manchester, depending on the origin and destination. Some long-distance journeys between Yorkshire, Derbyshire and the North West have been more reliable via the M62 or A50 and M6, rather than attempting to use the M67 and A57. Local travellers, meanwhile, have tended to rely more on back roads and neighbourhood streets, a move that can save time but also adds pressure to areas not designed for heavy through-traffic.
Impact on Commuters, Freight and Local Communities
The M67 closure has underlined how even a relatively short motorway can have an outsized impact on everyday life when something goes wrong. For commuters, particularly those who rely on the route for daily travel between Tameside, central Manchester and large employment hubs around the M60, the incident has caused missed appointments, late arrivals and cancelled plans. Public transport services that share or cross key radial routes have also experienced delays, with buses struggling to maintain timetables along congested approaches to Denton and Hyde.
Freight operators and logistics firms have likewise been affected. The M67 and A57 corridor forms part of an important east west route used by light goods vehicles and regional delivery fleets. With time-critical consignments and tight delivery windows, significant unplanned disruption can cascade through supply chains, leading to knock-on delays at depots and distribution centres across Greater Manchester and beyond. Larger HGVs face additional challenges in diverting via narrow local roads, where weight and width restrictions can restrict access.
Local communities have had to contend with an influx of through-traffic on roads that often pass close to schools, shopping parades and residential areas. Slower moving queues mean higher levels of noise and emissions for nearby homes, and more complex conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. While these impacts are temporary and secondary to the immediate safety concerns on the motorway, they remain a critical part of the Tameside travel picture whenever the M67 is forced out of action, whether due to incidents or planned works.
How This Fits Into a Wider Pattern of Disruption on the M67
For regular users of the M67, the latest closure will feel like part of a broader pattern. In recent years the route has seen repeated weekend and overnight shutdowns linked to major infrastructure projects, particularly the lengthy replacement of bridges and structures at Denton. A three year programme to deliver a new, safer bridge over the motorway has already generated multiple closures, intricate lift operations and carefully managed demolition phases that have required the full closure of sections of both carriageways at different times.
Those projects, while essential for safety and long term resilience, have primed drivers to expect disruption around Tameside. Advance notices have regularly signalled upcoming weekend closures, with National Highways and local councils warning residents to plan alternate routes and avoid the area where possible. The difference with a sudden major incident, however, is the lack of warning and the more limited ability for commuters and haulage firms to adjust rotas or journey plans in advance.
At the same time, other radial routes in the district such as the A57 and the M60 entry and exit slips have been the subject of planned works, lane closures and maintenance windows. Today’s traffic chaos therefore lands in a network that is already finely balanced and, at times, stretched. It underlines how vulnerable key corridors remain when even a single incident knocks out a link that has limited redundancy and only a handful of viable alternatives.
Practical Advice if You Need to Travel Through Tameside Today
For travellers who cannot avoid the area, careful planning is essential. Drivers are being strongly advised to check the latest traffic reports from trusted broadcasters and official traffic services before leaving, paying particular attention to any updates on when the M67 might partially reopen or when diversions change. With conditions shifting as emergency services complete their work and traffic officers implement new traffic management, information from earlier in the day can quickly become out of date.
If you are already on the road and heading towards Tameside, use in car navigation systems and traffic updates to identify congestion hotspots and potential detours. Where diversion signs are in place, it is important to follow them even if your satnav suggests an alternative, as official routes are designed with road capacity, safety and vehicle restrictions in mind. Cutting through narrow residential lanes to save a few minutes can create additional hazards, and often leads to delays when many drivers attempt the same tactic.
Allow significantly more time than usual for cross city or regional journeys that rely on the M67 or overlapping corridors. If you have a flexible schedule, consider delaying non essential trips until the closure has been lifted and residual queues have dissipated. For those using trains or trams to or from Manchester, build in extra time to reach stations, as bus services and taxi journeys may be affected by heavy traffic.
What This Means for Future Travel on the M67 and in Greater Manchester
The latest chaos on the M67 will inevitably raise questions about the resilience of Greater Manchester’s road network and the ongoing programme of upgrades and maintenance across Tameside. While no motorway can ever be completely protected from sudden incidents, planners and engineers will be assessing how the network responds to closures, which diversion routes prove most robust, and where further investment in capacity or junction improvements could ease future disruption.
In the medium term, the completion of long running bridge replacement schemes and associated works around Denton should remove one source of recurring weekend closures and lane reductions. New structures are designed to modern standards, with improved safety margins that should reduce the need for emergency repairs and unplanned restrictions later in their life. However, that does not negate the need for careful ongoing maintenance, particularly on a corridor exposed to heavy daily commuter and freight use.
For residents and regular travellers, the key lesson from today’s events is the importance of building flexibility into travel plans whenever possible. Whether through hybrid working arrangements that reduce dependence on peak hour motorway commutes, greater use of public transport where viable, or simply keeping a close eye on traffic information before setting out, small changes at the individual level can make a difference when the network comes under strain. As Tameside and Greater Manchester continue to balance growth with infrastructure demands, days like today highlight just how critical that balance has become.