Manchester receives cycling cash

Transport for Greater Manchester's bid for £20m from Department for Transport to improve infrastructure for cycling has been successful.

The immediate release of the grant money means work can start on specific projects over the next two years. Projects now possible:

  • Prestwich City View Cycleway will link Manchester city centre from Prestwich and Heaton Park through Crumpsall and Irk Valley. A link to Alan Turing Way will feed into a traffic-free orbital cycle route
  • Ashton Canal Cycleway will be an off-highway route from Ashton to Manchester city centre with links into Ashton town centre, Guide Bridge railway station and the National Cycling Centre
  • Mersey Valley & Stockport Cycleway will see a fully segregated cycle track linking Cheadle to the Corridor Super Cycleway and into Stockport town centre
  • Corridor SuperCycleway will be an improved on-highway, and largely segregated, cycle route from Wilmslow Road to East Didsbury with further links to the Trans Pennine Trail and Mersey Valley cycle paths
  • Airport City Enterprise Cycleway will be a new series of improved cycle links at Manchester Airport, adjacent to residential areas with links to Wythenshawe Hospital and the town centre
  • Bridgewater Cycleway will complete the route from Bridgewater Canal Towpath into Manchester city centre. A link to Salford Quays will also be provided
  • MediaCity and Quays Cycleway will expand cycle routes to better link the Lower Broughton area via Salford University to MediaCityUK and Salford Quays

There will be a programme of promoting cycling to young and old people to create a "cultural shift in attitudes". Cycle-and-ride stations will be created in Gatley, Irlam, Flixton and Guide Bridge railway stations and at Prestwich, Hollinwood and East Didsbury Metrolink stops.

TfGM partnered with the districts and key cycling organisations, such as Manchester-based British Cycling, Sustrans and the CTC, to set out a 12-year vision for transforming levels of cycling and increasing the number of people on bikes by 300%.

Nearly 8,000 people backed the bid to the Department for Transport's Cycle City Ambition Grant in an online poll, demonstrating the community's support for the proposals.

The Velocity 2025 cycling strategy aims to double the number of daily cyclists by 2015, and then double it again by 2025. Greater Manchester's vision is for up to 10% of all journeys to be made by bike by 2025.

Beyond this two-year grant, TfGM and the district councils are committed to continue to deliver the Velocity 2025 strategy by rolling out further major investment in cycling across Greater Manchester over the following 10 years.

Manchester was among a group of cities to receive money on Monday for cycling, along with Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford and Norwich, sharing £77m, with four national parks getting a further £17m; New Forest, Peak District, South Downs and Dartmoor.

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