‘Brilliant’ walking and cycling projects to improve safe, green corridors in Salford

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have announced plans for three new walking and cycling projects in the heart of Salford.

The three projects have been put forward for funding, and if approved around £7.1 million will be invested into the streets of Salford in a bid to improve walking and cycling routes for residents.

Andy Salmon, chair of Salford Walking and Cycling forum, thought the new proposals were brilliant.

He said: “Most of us do drive cars and we need roads, but we’ve designed our roads and urban infrastructure to give priority to vehicles over people. We need to reverse that.

“These proposals aren’t going to suddenly quadruple cycle journeys, but they will make a difference and they will help people.

“This is just the beginning, we want to see a lot more. These proposals will make some good connections for people and we want to connect them to other places as well and build a really good network.”

Monton, Salford, is one of the three areas involved in the proposal. TfGM say they want to create six new parallel zebra crossings, a two mile cycling route on quiet streets and a new footway – costing around £1.6 million.

Swinton Greenway, Salford, is home to another of the proposed projects. The aim would be to create a traffic free, off-road walking and cycling corridor to connect Swinton to Monton – costing around £4.6 million.

Springfield Lane/Trinity Way Junction, Salford, is the final project. TfGM propose a major junction upgrade to improve signalised pedestrian crossings and create parallel cycle crossings – costing around £900,000.

Mr Salmon continued: “Springfield Road Junction is really hard to cross on foot, you are much more vulnerable as a pedestrian or cyclist.

“However, getting about on foot or by bike is better for the environment, will cause less pollution and will help people’s health as they’re exercising.

“It’s better for community as you’re not isolating yourself from other people. You pass people in the street and smile at them, which you can’t do in a car.”

Listen to Salford Now’s full interview with Andy Salmon:

These proposals are part of a wider project to improve walking and cycling across Greater Manchester, the total potential spending if all projects go ahead is £46.4 million.