 The original scheme for a new road through the rural area south of Manchester was the design of the urban planner Richard Barry Parker, who envisaged the creation of a parkway — a broad, landscaped highway — to run from the new garden suburb of Wythenshawe, connecting it with Manchester City Centre.Manchester Corporation began construction of the new "Princess Parkway" in 1929 with a new bridge over the River Mersey.The new road was laid out as a dual carriageway for motor vehicles with a segregated tram track along the central reservation for Manchester Corporation Tramways to run trams into Manchester City Centre.