New cycling and walking projects announced across Greater Manchester

The latest projects to be built as part of Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking plan will be considered by Greater Manchester Combined Authority next week.

Three new projects were put forward yesterday for funding, and if approved, would see around £5.7 million provided from the Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund with a further £15.1 million coming from council contributions.

The latest projects bring the total planned spend on cycling and walking across Greater Manchester to around £67 million. 

Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner Chris Boardman said: “We’ve now got some fantastic schemes in the pipeline and we want to fast-track works as much as possible to kick-start Greater Manchester’s transformation into a cleaner and greener city-region.

“We know that all councils are now working on further schemes and I’d encourage people to keep in touch with their local authority to find out and feed in to what’s planned in their areas.

“In the New Year, we’ll be publishing the second draft of our network map that will reflect the thousands of comments we’ve had from local people. The map will then be used in collaboration with the districts to help us prioritise future schemes.”

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “I’ve seen the difference that cycling and walking infrastructure makes to cities like Copenhagen and New York.

“This is about enhancing neighbourhoods so that they work for people, making trips on foot and by bike the most attractive and easy way to travel.

“Well done to all Greater Manchester councils on the schemes proposed so far and we look forward to many more being put forward in the New Year.”

The first proposed project is Trafford Road, Salford, which features one mile of new footway level cycle track, a parallel walking route, six upgraded junctions and eight bus stop bypasses.

The second project is Gidlow/Swinley, Wigan, which involves improving on-foot access to the Gidlow/Swinley area north of Wigan town centre and includes around 30 new pedestrian crossing points.

The third project is Bridgewater canal improvements, Astley, Wigan, which involves 0.75 miles of surface improvements as well as better access and signage.

In other news...

Outdoor Trade Show confirms dates for next three years

Following positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors to the Outdoor Trade Show (OTS) over the …