Three routes in Urmston have been earmarked in a bid to boost safer cycling and walking, including a link to the Trafford Centre at a total cost so far of £5.5million. Some £2.3m is to be spent on 'enhanced segregation' of cyclists and walkers at Lostock Road from Davyhulme Circle to junction 9 of the M60, with links to the shared-use bridge to the iconic shopping complex, at Shetland Way via Kingway Park.
Another route - costing £1.3m - will take in Canterbury Road, Railway Road and Winchester Road, intersecting with Crofts Bank Road, providing 'quiet streets' and mixed traffic routes for bikers and enhanced pedestrian facilities. Also for £1.3m, there will be 5km of two-way fully segregated cycling at Barton Road (from Neary Way Roundabout), Crofts Bank Road, Station Road, and along Stretford Road, extending to the junction of Moss Vale Road and Church Road to the junction of Carrington Road.
The main aspect of this route is the link to Trafford Park, with fully segregated cycling north and south of Urmston as well as linking the southern area of the town to Carrington and the eastern area of Urmston to Stretford. It is understood to act as 'the spine of Urmston'.
The bid for funding for the routes has been put forward by the One Trafford Partnership, which brings together organisations from across the public, private, voluntary, faith and community sectors and local residents. It is having to meet a strict 'stage gated' funding model from the Mayor's Challenge Fund (MCF) to get approval.
Seven separate routes in the town were identified potentially to form part of the 'Urmston Active Neighbourhood' project, but to make develop all of them would have cost £18.5m while the Trafford allocation must not exceed £6.5m. Trafford council's director of highways Chris Morris told Trafford's scrutiny committee that the project will be delivered in phases as agreed during the design review panel and workshop with Transport for Greater Manchester.
"In the public consultation there were 3,400 suggestions for routes in Urmston, which would've represented £18.5m worth of work, but we do not have the finance from the MCF to do them all, so we've had to prioritise them."
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