Greater Manchester receives £13 million from government’s Active Travel Fund

Greater Manchester receives £13 million from government’s Active Travel Fund to continue delivering UK’s largest cycling and walking network

UK government has committed an additional £13 million to Greater Manchester to deliver six new cycling and walking schemes in Manchester, Rochdale, Salford and Tameside. The funding will be used to create protected cycle lanes, crossing facilities and roll out award-winning CYCLOPS junctions in five locations.

The new routes will form a vital part of the Bee Network, GM’s vision for an integrated transport system connecting all forms of public transport, including active travel. This announcement follows confirmation that the city-region is set to receive more than £1 billion to help deliver the Bee Network, which includes a further £63 million dedicated to active travel.

Six new cycling and walking schemes are set to get the go-ahead in Greater Manchester following a £13.07 million funding boost from the government’s Active Travel fund (tranche three), the Department for Transport (DfT) announced today.

These transformative schemes will be delivered in four districts – Manchester, Rochdale, Salford and Tameside – and will make it easier, safer and more attractive for people to walk, cycle or wheel for everyday trips.

Andy Burnham, Mayor for Greater Manchester, said: “It’s brilliant that we have been awarded more funding from government that will allow us to continue delivering high quality, accessible and safe active travel infrastructure across GM.

“Over the next 12 months we will continue to build on the plans to make active travel the number one choice in our city-region for everyday trips to work, school and the shops, or as part of a longer journey using public transport.”

Designed by Greater Manchester engineers, CYCLOPS – Cycle Optimised Protected Signal – junctions completely separate pedestrians and cyclists from each other, and from motor traffic, at junctions, eliminating some of the most hazardous conflicts on our road network.

Dame Sarah Storey, Mayor’s Active Travel Commissioner, said: “I’m delighted to receive news of the additional investment from government into the active travel routes across GM.”

This is the third tranche of funding that GM has received from the government’s Active Travel Fund. To date, GM has received over £19 million from the Active Travel Fund to deliver a range of cycling and walking schemes across the 10 local authorities, along with a programme of community projects that encourage more people to walk or cycle.