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Andy Burnham plans £160m investment in Manchester’s cycling and walking infrastructure

£9m cycleway proposed between city centre and Chorlton

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has announced plans to invest £160m in cycling and walking infrastructure. The announcement was made as part of a ‘Congestion Deal’ that aims to tackle traffic problems across Greater Manchester.

The Congestion Deal follows Burnham’s Congestion Conversation last autumn, a survey to which over 7,000 members of the public responded. Among the conclusions were that there were no realistic alternatives to driving.

As well as investment in active travel, Burnham is proposing £80m investment in Metrolink trams; incentives for employers to introduce flexible start and finish times to minimise rush hour traffic; and a possible High Occupancy Vehicle lane pilot to encourage car sharing.

The plans would see Chris Boardman, the region’s cycling and walking commissioner, given a budget of £50m a year from 2019/20 for three years to create a ‘world class’ cycling infrastructure for Greater Manchester.

Money is from the Transforming Cities Fund, announced by the government last November and the plans are due to go before the region’s combined authority next week.

Boardman said: “Making it easier for more people to travel without using cars, particularly for short journeys, is one of the key ways we can tackle congestion. We can only do this if we make active travel the easiest, most attractive and logical option.

“The £160m investment in cycling and walking infrastructure, would kick-start a major transformation of how people of all ages travel.

“We’ve said from the start that this transformation has to be led and owned by local people. We’re ready to work closely with communities on bold and ambitious plans that will unlock the potential for thousands more people to get around by bike or on foot.”

Burnham told the Manchester Evening News that he wanted to “unlock the potential for thousands of people to move around by cycling or walking without reliance on private car use.”

He explained: “People have experienced growing levels of congestion. There is nothing we can do to wave a magic wand.

“It is a difficult issue but there are some things that we can do. We are setting out a new approach, one which is based on a deal with the public.

“There are things that we can put in place, but they are intended to create incentives to change what people do – to move away from the car.”

Earlier this week, plans were announced for a £9m cycleway between Chorlton Park and the city centre with “large sections of segregation.”

The corridor is already one of the busiest for cycling in Greater Manchester and cycle usage rates in Chorlton are among the highest in the region.

The proposed route would run along Barlow Moor Road, Manchester Road, Upper Chorlton Road and Chorlton Road.

Initial grant funding of £3.9m has already been allocated for the scheme from the Department for Transport and Manchester City Council is now working with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Boardman to secure further funding.

The region recently announced that it has signed up to National Association of City Transportation Officials’ (NACTO) Global Street Design Guide. A consultation on the scheme is set to be held in the summer once designs are complete.

Boardman commented: “What was already set to be a good scheme could now be a game-changer that will lead the way and allow more school runs, work trips and leisure outings to be made without cars.  Most importantly, it would make these journeys enjoyable rather than a chore.

“I can’t praise Manchester City Council highly enough for helping us set the bar high and aiming to bring forward a truly inspiring scheme.  I look forward to working with councils across Greater Manchester to bring forward similarly ambitious projects.” 

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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8 comments

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GREGJONES | 5 years ago
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As a Manchester resident I'd welcome any investment but it's worth noting that large portions of Manchester's residents come from other parts of the world where to travel on foot makes you poor and to travel by bike is unheard of. Those people will continue to travel by car (usual a large German motor) because of social pressure no matter how short the distance. My children's school has a catchment of a third of a mile yet every morning I see people drop their kids off by car, then drive back home again afterwards, as little as a hundred yards in some cases. How does the council hope to deal with these people?

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Jambalaya | 5 years ago
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Hello everyone, new here. Not from Greater Manchester but just next door and watching with interest how Manchester could, hopefully should become become the template for the wider region.

From the article: 'The Congestion Deal follows Burnham’s Congestion Conversation last autumn, a survey to which over 7,000 members of the public responded. Among the conclusions were that there were no realistic alternatives to driving.'  Am not sure that's one of the conclusions. The main thrust is about boosting alternatives. Accepting car use is essential in some circumstances is not the same as saying it's the only realistic option, though it does report members of the public who are of that view. The draft is at goo.gl/vj7F6J

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RichChorlton | 5 years ago
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I live near the end of the cycleway they're proposing, and ride that way to work all the time.
At the moment, it's not bad. The worst part is Chorlton centre, where there's traffic and the roads are narrow. I don't know what they could do there to make it better, there isn't much space between the buildings. I'm a bit worried that this will mean years of road works and then it'll actually be worse.

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HarrogateSpa | 5 years ago
6 likes

We do a lot of moaning here about all the things that are wrong with the way bikes are accommodated (or not) on Britain's roads. When something positive is announced, we should welcome it. I have confidence that Boardman will make sure it's done right.

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StraelGuy | 5 years ago
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Never mind new infrastructure. The roads in Greater Manchester are absolutely appalling, genuinely dangerous. He could start with some resurfacing work and take it from there.

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Peowpeowpeowlasers replied to StraelGuy | 5 years ago
3 likes
StraelGuy wrote:

Never mind new infrastructure. The roads in Greater Manchester are absolutely appalling, genuinely dangerous. He could start with some resurfacing work and take it from there.

An excellent idea, let's spend money resurfacing the roads damaged by cars and lorries so they can continue to damage them, instead of spending money on segregated infrastructure that will get people who don't currently cycle out of their cars and onto bikes.

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
0 likes

Perfect for wheelies

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
0 likes

Perfect for wheelies

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