Grants accepted for two new transport schemes

Royton town centre. Image courtesy of Google Maps

Oldham Council has accepted a £7m grant to improve local transport links for pedestrians and those using public transport – including creating a stronger link between Oldham and Royton. 

The cash – a portion of a £190m pot from GMCA’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – will fund two infrastructure projects in Oldham. 

A £4.5m scheme will create a new off-road path from the town centre to Oldham Edge.

The new route would mean people on foot or bicycle could travel from Oldham to Royton without having to share busy highways with motor vehicles. 

And £2.8m will be used to deliver a series of smaller connected projects aimed at improving accessibility within and around Oldham town centre for all modes of transport, including pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport users. 

The grant was accepted at a brief Cabinet meeting on Monday, September 23, which took place for the first time at the newly refurbished J R Clynes Building – previously known as the Old Library.

Councillors declared they were ‘delighted’ by the grant. 

Councillor Chris Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways, said: “This is a good news story.

"Because we’ve been awarded £7.3m towards two projects, which is the Oldham Edge and Higginshaw Active Travel Link and Oldham Town Centre Sustainable Connectivity Links. 

“It complements the other schemes we already have.

"There’s not much more to say – we just need to accept the grants.” 

The schemes come on the tail of previous projects.

The local authority recently completed a new cycle lane on St Mary’s Way, and received funding to improve connectivity in Mumps, between Broadway and the Rochdale Canal Link and between Park Road and Kings Road. 

The GMCA grant comes from a £1.07 billion settlement provided by the government in 2022 to address historic underspend on transport infrastructure in the region and support the development of the Bee Network.

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