Stretford Cycleway boosted with over £800k investment

Cyclists in Stretford are set to see major upgrades to cycle routes following approval of an £821,000 improvement scheme.

The funding, which has been secured as part of a grant from the Department for Transport (DfT) for investment in cycling in Greater Manchester, will see delivery of the Stretford Cycleway scheme along Stretford Road/Talbot Road. 

This includes:

  • Replacing a number of existing discontinuous advisory cycle lanes with mandatory cycle lanes,
  • Enhancing existing mandatory cycle lanes utilising physical cycle lane delineators, and
  • The introduction of cycle friendly geometry and economical use of green coloured surfacing at high risk locations.

A consultation took place on draft proposals in May 2016 and consideration has been given to the results of the consultation when devising the final scheme.

Executive Councillor for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services, Cllr John Reilly, said: “This is great news for cyclists.  We have great ambitions across Greater Manchester to encourage more people to cycle and this scheme, on one of Greater Manchester’s major commuter routes, is a huge step forward.

We all know the health benefits of cycling over driving as well as taking more traffic off our roads therefore making cyclists safe whilst on busy highways is important and this scheme will significantly improve the experience of new and existing cyclists whilst reducing the risk of cyclist and vehicle conflict. 

These works, coupled with the improvement works to Stretford generally, which are already underway, are a huge boost for the area, its appearance and its appeal to those who are tempted to cycle and existing cyclists alike.”

In March 2015 the DfT awarded £22.1m to Greater Manchester under the second round of the Cycle City Ambition Grant (CCAG2). This grant is to provide cycle infrastructure improvements, as part of a long term cycling strategy aimed at increasing cycling levels by 300 per cent.

The financial allocation for the provisional schemes identified for Trafford is £1.8m. The remainder of the grant is set to be spent on another scheme elsewhere in the borough which is yet to be decided by the Council in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester.

Further details about the approved scheme can be found at: https://democratic.trafford.gov.uk/documents/s21475/CCAG2%20Report.pdf

Posted on Thursday 29th June 2017