"An exciting future for Carrington," hails a huge sign overlooking a row of queuing traffic on the A6144.
But in the Trafford village best known as the home of Manchester United's training ground, not everyone is feeling quite so optimistic. Fed up residents say constant traffic and the sound of lorries thundering past their homes have made their lives a misery for years, and they have finally had enough.
"It never stops," said Sylvia Shelmerdine, who lives in Manchester Road. "The traffic is 24 hours a day.
READ MORE: Tragic incident claimed life of beloved gran - and changed the man responsible 'forever'
"The lorries are one after another and they're doing 60mph. In the summer, you can't have the windows open. We can't sleep at night because of the traffic. The whole house shakes, it's terrible."
Ms Shelmerdine fears the pollution caused by the traffic and the number of industrial estates in the area is making her ill.
"I've been ill for 18 months," the 69-year-old explained. "If you talk to anyone round here they are all complaining about stinging eyes and croakiness.
"My husband and I are retired. We want to relax but we are so stressed with it all. I just want a good night's sleep. We have even had to stay in a B&B but we can't afford to keep doing that."
Like many locals, Ms Shelmerdine is resigned to the prospect of the congestion becoming worse before it gets any better.
A total of up to 5,000 new homes and 350,000sqm of warehouse space has been earmarked for Carrington as part of the controversial Places for Everyone masterplan, the successor of the ill-fated Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF).
As part of the plan, a new road will also be built through the middle of New Carrington - the name given to the enormous new community - to by-pass Carrington and divert traffic away from the village. While the relief road has been welcomed by locals, they want it to come sooner.
"They're not thinking of the residents," said Ms Shelmerdine. "The relief road won't happen until all these new houses are done."
The tiny village is currently home to less than 500 people. It has no shop, school or health centre while locals say its only pub - The Windmill Inn - has been shut since the coronavirus pandemic.
Fiona McLardy is one of many who hopes new homes will bring improved infrastructure that benefit those already living in Carrington.
"This is a one horse town," she explained. "It's just dead, there's nothing here. We've lived here 33 years and we've never had a shop. We need shops, a health centre, a school.
"The first thing I had to do when I moved here was learn to drive. If you can't drive then you've had it. It's too cut off. We need more houses, providing some of them are going to be reasonably priced.
"They need to open another road though. This one can't take all the traffic when they start building."
The 'continual' traffic has even put Teresa Wright off walking her dog.
"There's too much," said the 69-year-old. "It's all day long. If you want to walk the dog up and down the main road, it's not pleasant. I make my husband do it."
She too is cautiously optimistic about the new developments, which she hopes will change Carrington for the better.
"You can't stop progress," she explained. "The house building is happening everywhere. You've got to build houses and they are needed. I don't know if it will be better or worse for the area though.
"It's a nice little village. We don't get a lot of trouble here.
"It would be handy to have a little shop for the community though. If you want a pint of milk, you have to get on the bus to Partington or Urmston."
One aspect of the huge plans for the area that is causing concern for some is the potential impact on the much-loved green space of Carrington Moss.
The 325 hectares of precious peatland - home to the endangered willow tit and water vole - is well used by walkers, cyclists and horseriders.
But their habitat is under threat, with the council's preferred route for the relief road crossing Carrington Moss. More than 1,600 people signed a petition calling for a rethink of the plans after they were announced two years ago.
"I don't mind the houses as long as they leave the greenery and trees where they are," said one woman.
"They need to do something about the traffic though. If they are building hundreds of houses, that's hundreds more cars.
"It's constant. During the night, you get wagons going past and the house vibrates. You just feel the house jump.
"It disturbs your sleep. When I'm going to work, it can take five to ten minutes to get off the drive.
"I made a nice patio area because we get the sun at the front, but I gave up sitting out there because I couldn't hear myself think."
Another woman, who asked not to be named, said the 'nightmare' congestion had made her consider moving house after more than 40 years.
"If you're lying in bed at night and a lorry passes, you're literally shaking," she said.
"My fitted wardrobes are no longer fitted and my display cabinet in the living room is constantly shaking.
"Where is it all going, and coming from? We must be the only people in the country who love it when the road is being done because then there's no traffic going past.
"They need to build a relief road or resurface this road. More housing is a good thing for the area but they need to put the infrastructure in first instead of doing it backwards. This road can't cope."
A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: “We appreciate that residents have suffered from heavy and constant traffic for a long time. This is why we have proposed the new relief road, which would take traffic away from Carrington, and improve vehicle and active travel links to Partington.
“We are pressing on with the relief road as quickly as we can but we have to make sure we consult with residents and go through the correct procedures. We will keep residents updated on progress.”
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- They said it began as a joke - but what they then carried out was 'truly terrifying'
'Are we going to be pushed out?': The inner city area 'taken over by the rich'
Life in the Greater Manchester village where you pay 12p to get in and out
- The Manchester park set to become the city's tenth nature reserve
- Woman dies after Asda petrol station crash following suspected medical episode at the wheel
