Manchester announces £5 million for safe walking and cycling

Council leaders across the Greater Manchester area have committed to creating enhanced space for pedestrians and people on bikes across the city-region, to enable people to keep their distance for safe essential journeys and exercise during the coronavirus lockdown and through recovery.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said the money would help make more room for social distancing and improve safety as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

"As more people turn to walking and cycling, we want that to continue as we move into life beyond lockdown. These choices are contributing to cleaning up our city's air and causing less congestion on our roads, and that's something we must sustain.”

Brought together under the Safe Streets Save Lives campaign, local authorities are looking to prioritise a range of temporary, pop-up measures such as footway extensions, one-way streets, removing through traffic on certain roads, adding extra cycle lanes and removing street clutter such as pedestrian guard rails at pinch points.

The emergency changes will be matched to help ease social distancing at specific locations such as areas outside shops, transport hubs or routes to hospitals in the districts, with £5m of funding made available through the Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund.

To read the full article from Transport Xtra, please see here.