Consultation begins on Wilmslow and Macclesfield active travel schemes

A public consultation has launched on five schemes to promote walking and cycling in Cheshire East, including Wilmslow and Macclesfield.

The consultation comes after Cheshire East Council was awarded £588,000 from the Department for Transport to deliver on plans. The proposals include design options to promote walking and cycling within five projects across the borough:

• Manchester Road, in Tytherington;
• Manchester Road, Chancel Lane, Cliff Road and Styal Road, in Wilmslow/Handforth;
• Black Lane and Hurdsfield Road, Macclesfield;
• Antrobus Street, West Street and Mill Street, Congleton; and
• Vernon Way, West Street and Market Street, Crewe.

All schemes will be permanent, unlike previous emergency measures adopted last year as a result of the increase in walking and cycling during the pandemic lockdown. Construction work is anticipated to begin in Summer 2021.

Recent surveys found that, across England, 65 per cent of people supported reallocating road space to walking and cycling in their local area and nearly eight out of 10 people support measures to reduce road traffic in their neighbourhood.

Cllr Laura Crane, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and waste, said:

People’s travel behaviour has changed during the lockdown – and this council is determined to lock in and build on the benefits of more people walking and cycling so that our town centres are safer, healthier and more welcoming to shoppers and visitors.”

The consultation will run until 3 March 2021 to allow local people to comment on proposals. Views can be shared online via the Council’s portal. Cllr Crane added:

Our aim is to create schemes that are right for each community and developed in partnership with each local area and local people – which is why the public consultation and feedback is so important.”

A broader consultation on local transport plans, encompassing active travel and public transport in the borough has also been extended until 3rd March in light of the ongoing lockdown measures.

The local transport plan consultations are based around the following themes:

• Accessibility for all – considering all travel needs;
• Sustainability – improving walking, cycling and public transport;
• Quality of the public realm – managing traffic to support town centres and the visitor economy;
• Better neighbourhoods – improving amenities where people live; and
• Connectivity – the strategic links needed to access work, education and essential services, such as hospitals.