New multi-million pound eco-friendly schemes are in the pipeline to encourage employees to walk or cycle to work in Salford instead of driving.
Salford has won the money from the Greater Manchester Mayor’s £160 million cycling and walking challenge fund, with an estimated £19.8 million to transform Trafford Road and £2.8 million for Ordsall’s filtered neighbourhood.
Salford city council has had mores schemes approved than any other authority in Greater Manchester and claims to be “at the forefront”.
The council hopes to use the Trafford Road changes to break down the barriers for people without cars to get from Ordsall to Salford Quays and also to Manchester city centre.
Changes will include 2 meter wide segregated cycle lanes, upgraded junctions and more safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
The intent of these schemes is to encourage more people to cycle and walk to work instead of driving. Fewer cars on the road will ensure less congestion at peak hours in traffic.
Councillor Derek Antrobus, who has represented Swinton North for around 40 years, oversees planning and sustainable development which means he holds the responsibility for the city’s regeneration and climate change.
Mr Antrobus stressed that work on Trafford Road will not solve all the transport issues.
He said: “[it is a] step in the right direction. It is many steps like that, that will create a sort of city that residents tell us they want to see.
“When we do new highway schemes, we try to make sure that there’s improved space for pedestrians and cyclists to encourage that shift away from the car.
“I think it will make a really really big impact on the lives of the people in Ordsall and Salford Quays.”
In terms of climate change, fewer people driving will mean less co2 emissions being released, therefore this scheme can help subtract from global warming.
Cllr Antrobus said: “It was almost as if people from Ordsall were being segregated from Salford Quays.
“The relatively poor community was being segregated from a very upwardly mobile community in Salford Quays. It has always been our ambition to break down that barrier.”
The scheme also hopes to plant a row of trees down Trafford Road to adapt to climate change.
Mr Antrobus hopes that planting the trees will counter the issue of surface water floods occurring and overfilling the drains along the road, not to mention the eco-friendly benefits of trees.
Shown above are the places they are hoping to connect.
Mr Antrobus continued: “One of the biggest threats to our city, according to the committee of climate change, is surface water flooding.
“That is the rainfall that can’t get into the drains, it is so intense that it overpowers the drainage system. The tree pits will hold up the flow of water into the drainage system, so it never overflows”.
Salford City Council’s digital strategy document states that there are “over 7,000 people working and/or living at MediaCityUK” where one of the biggest cycling community in Greater Manchester lies ensuring the importance of this scheme.
Mr Antrobus said: “It will transform people’s sense of place. People will look at this scheme and think ‘that’s the future’. It will be a tremendous inspiration for Salford.”
The scheme will eventually spread across the whole of Salford but that will take at least a couple of decades.
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