Nearly £3m to be spent on walking and cycling scheme

Nearly £3m is to be spent on improving walking and cycling routes in part of Oldham town centre.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has approved spending on an active travel project, part of the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, at a meeting on Friday.

The investment in Oldham, which totals more than £2.9m, will focus around works to the east of the town, on Lord Street and Rock Street.

It follows the first phase of the Mayor’s Challenge Fund which funded works in West Street and Cheapside in the town.

Speaking at the meeting, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham described the investment as ‘positive’.

The new scheme will deliver ‘new and improved walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure’, according to the GMCA report.

Key elements of the scheme include a new cycle optimised protected signals (CYCLOPS) junction at Egerton Street and St Mary’s Way, linking to a new two-way cycle track into the town centre.

There could also be ‘considerable reallocation of road space’ to make provision for those walking, wheeling or cycling, officers say.

The full details of the proposals are to be confirmed by Oldham council.

The previously approved project at West Street and Cheapside forms part of the council’s ‘Accessible Oldham’ project and will cost £2.144m.

It will also see the access to the leisure and education facilities on Rochdale Road and King Street, including the Oldham Leisure Centre, made better for non-drivers.

New improvements include widened footpaths, segregated cycle paths and a new bicycle parking hub.

According to the council it could also involved re-routing buses away from West Street to create a ‘traffic-free zone’.

Major works have already taken place as part of the ‘Accessible Oldham’ scheme on Henshaw Street and Albion Street.

It forms part of Oldham’s council ambition to be the greenest borough in Greater Manchester, and make the authority carbon neutral by 2025, and the whole borough by 2030.

The Mayor’s Challenge Fund is being used to deliver the first phase of the Bee Active Network, which is the walking, wheeling and cycling element of the wider Bee Network, which aims to transform Greater Manchester’s transport system.

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