Manchester walking and cycling consultations enter their final week

Consultations for the Manchester City Centre and Wythenshaw Active Travel Schemes enter their final week. 

These two projects are intended to make walking and cycling more attractive for people living in these areas, while also making lasting changes to the way people travel.

In the city centre funding has been secured from the Government’s Active Travel Fund to make travelling between Piccadilly, Victoria and Deansgate stations easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

The aim of this project is to encourage more people to walk and cycle along these routes, link walking and cycling routes to each other, connect city centre transport hubs and deliver significant health, environmental and congestion benefits.

Wythenshawe is an area where key improvements are needed to walking and cycling infrastructure.

Manchester City Council hopes to gather as many viewpoints as possible before the consultations come to a close on May 14.

The scheme will aim to improve this by creating dedicated cycling and walking infrastructure. The proposed route ties into the airport via a link at Simonsway to the east (also picking up the town centre) and Wythenshawe Hospital cycle link to the west.

Cllr Angeliki Stogia, executive member for environment, planning and transport said: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a lot of people to rethink the way they travel. The Active Travel Fund is allowing us to explore how we can encourage more people in Manchester to walk or cycle.

‘In Manchester we are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2038, and as set out in our City Centre Transport Strategy for 90% of morning peak journeys to the city centre to be via walking, cycling or by public transport by 2040.

‘Projects like the Active Travel Schemes are just one way by which we will achieve this goal, and I’d encourage as many people as possible to take part in the consultation and tell us how we can make walking and cycling the first and easiest choice for short journeys.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay