City Centre Active Travel Scheme consultation second stage – dropin event (Manchester City Council)

Drop in event to view the proposals

  • Wednesday 1 June, 4pm to 7pm at Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester, M2 5NS

Consultation closes 19th June 2022.

See Consultation webpage for details (also below) and ‘Have your Say’ link.

Help to create better walking and cycling routes across the city

As set out in the recently updated City Centre Transport Strategy, our central aim is for 90% of all morning peak trips to the city centre to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2040.

This means having the right tram, rail and bus connections in the right places, all working together and interlinked with high quality routes for people walking, cycling and using wheelchairs.

We have already secured funding for the next phase of this work from the government’s Active Travel Fund, through which we aim to create an easier, safer and more attractive route for people to move around the city centre.

The routes where we are planning on making improvements (not already covered by other schemes) are:

  • Chester Road, Bridgewater Viaduct, Deansgate and Whitworth Street West, and
  • Whitworth Street, Fairfield Street, Minshull Street, Aytoun Street and London Road

We have recently held a consultation on the prohibition of driving on Water Street as part of the Factory development. We want to make sure that local people have the wider picture about local proposals for the parallel stretch of Deansgate, as it is crucial for residents and other stakeholders to be able to make informed comment.

To allow this to happen, the consultation on both Water Street and Deansgate will be considered at the same time and comments on both schemes will be used to inform any decisions on how the schemes are taken forward.

The aim is to:

  • Encourage more people to walk and cycle along this route
  • Link walking and cycling routes to each other, and to places where people want to go
  • Connect city centre transport hubs
  • Reduce the volume of traffic entering the city centre, in line with the City Centre Transport Strategy
  • Reduce the risk of casualties from road traffic accidents
  • Deliver significant health, environmental and congestion benefits.
  • Expand the area across the city centre where pedestrians have priority, and provide more space for walking
  • Encourage people to travel across and around the city by walking and cycling

Previous consultation stage

In the consultation in 2021, which asked what areas people thought were a priority, and described the types of measures which could be applied, the idea of the scheme was positively received. Those who responded were mostly people who already walk, cycle or use public transport in the area. Common themes in the consultation included:

  • Less traffic within the area, by:
    • Making the city centre a taxi, public transport and emergency vehicle only zone.
    • Removing on street parking.
  • New or improved cycling infrastructure across the city centre, by:
    • Creating cycle lanes.
    • Linking transport hubs.
    • Better maintenance of existing cycle lanes.
  • Reallocation of road space, by:
    • Widening footways.

The removal of on street parking and reallocation of space for segregated cycle lanes or wider pavements are a feature of the latest proposals

The scope of this project does not include reforming the types of vehicles that use the city centre, or maintenance of the existing cycleways. These aspects would need to be actioned by the Citywide Highways teams or as part of another project. Many of the streets which were mentioned are already part of other schemes such as Deansgate SFA, NE Gateway, NQ Walking and Cycling etc.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is listed in our cycling events calendar for Greater Manchester. It is not organised by Manchester Friends of the Earth nor the Love Your Bike campaign and does not necessarily reflect their policies. We recommend checking with the organisers in case of a change of time or location.

Event Details

Meeting

Location Friends Meeting House
Manchester
Start Wednesday 1 Jun 2022 4:00pm
Finish Wednesday 1 Jun 2022 7:00pm
Organised by Manchester City Council