A trio of new projects to be built as part of Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking plan have been put forward for funding, and will be considered by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) next week.
If approved, the projects would see £5.7million in contributions from the Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund, as well as a further £15.1million from the council.
That would bring the total planned spend on cycling and walking across Greater Manchester to around £67million, with 24 confirmed projects in the pipeline.
'We’ve now got some fantastic schemes in the pipeline,' said Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s Cycling and Walking Commissioner.
'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 into what’s planned in their areas,' he added.
'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 upcoming projects include 26 miles (42km) of new cycling and walking routes, including nine miles of Dutch-style separated cycling lanes.
The three latest schemes include one mile of footway-level cycle track on Trafford Road in Salford, as well as six upgraded junctions to protect cyclists from motor traffic, and eight bus stop bypasses.
Gidlow and Astley in Wigan will also see changes, including new crossing points and surface improvements.
'I’ve seen the difference that cycling and walking infrastructure makes to cities like Copenhagen and New York,' said Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
'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.'