Manchester pushes work on active travel infrastructure plan

Manchester expands its 'active' cycling and walking network North and East of the city centre. The area has already seen a first round of public consultations and is now in the middle of a second, based upon results of plans from the first round’s input.

The new proposed active travel route runs from Ancoats to the New Islington Metro Link crossing the Islington marina and Ancoats conservation area. Investment focuses on new crossings to improve the situation at junctions and public spaces where walking and cycling in currently not easy. Additional greeneries and trees should help increase the comfort levels of public space.

The main outcomes of the May 2020 consultations were to:

• create routes away from cars and roads;
• develop a route that links key places such as Cutting Room Square and the New Islington tram stop;
• make improvements to key junctions to help make them easier to cross;
• make Bengal Street one way, enabling safer crossing;
• more green public spaces; and
• move some car parking to another area.

As a result, the design got amended and seeks to now reduce on-street parking to increase the safety of cycling routes. Two crossings will also see cycle optimised protected signals, so called 'CYCLOPS junctions'.

The council’s executive member for the environment, planning and transport, Cllr Angeliki Stogia, said: “This scheme will help create better places to live to the north and east of the city centre, making walking and cycling easier and more attractive options by improving travel links between emerging neighbourhoods and the city centre. Our proposals, which follow on from the benefit of an initial round of consultation, seek to create more walking and cycling-friendly public areas which are joined-up more naturally, with better signage and safer junctions, to encourage people of all ages to see travelling on foot or by bike as natural choices.”

The improvements to cycling and walking in the North-Eastern areas are part of the plan to form the UK’s largest walking and cycling network, The Bee Network, in Greater Manchester.

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Article published first at “PlaceNorthWest” on 1st of March 2021.