Council rules out new cycle lanes on major Greater Manchester road due to ‘colossal’ costs
Stockport Council has ruled out new cycle lanes on one of its major roads due to "absolutely colossal" costs.
Plans have been shared by the town hall and Transport for Greater Manchester to make improvements to bus journeys and active travel along the A6 Corridor, using funding from the Greater Manchester City Region Transport Settlement (CRSTS).
The scheme, along Wellington North Road, provides a link from the boundary of Manchester to Stockport town centre, and is one of the busiest bus routes in the Greater Manchester region.
The plans to redevelop the road aims to make major changes along the A6, with new bus lanes, improved junctions, and enhanced crossings.
It includes a proposal for an eastern and western cycle route, taking cyclists alongside streets around the A6 towards Stockport town centre rather than directly along Wellington Road North.
The scheme also proposes to create a number of new 20mph speed limits on residential streets around the area.
It has been allocated around £15 million and is set to take around two years to complete, with the first phase expected to be delivered in 2025, with work planned to last until 2027.
But during a meeting at the Heatons and Reddish Area Committee on July 29, councillors criticised a decision not to opt for cycle lanes directly along the A6.
Cllr Gary Lawson, leader of Stockport Green Party, said: "I find it a very disappointing scheme.
"It's referred to as a compromise scheme, but in a compromise everybody gives a little.
"Motorists are not losing out in any way here, buses are benefiting, the compromise is the losses are all for cyclists.
"We have a cycle lane at the moment along the A6 but that will go as I understand it, and cyclists will be sent here, there and everywhere.
"Most cyclists want the most direct route and the safest route, and that would be a segregated cycle route along the A6."
A town hall report on the plans recognised that 'a number' of people have requested cycle lanes along the A6, but that the plan would not be feasible.
It stated that segregated cycleways on Wellington Road North are 'beyond the budget or timetable' of the scheme, as well as there being 'insufficient space' on the road.
A council officer said: "We have looked at this - I don't have a cost for what it would cost, because a large part of it would have to move every single kerb line on the A6 along the entire length of the scheme.
"The cost in terms of stats diversions [utility services] could be absolutely colossal. It would require third party land to do it.
"That would almost certainly require a CPO [compulsory purchase order] process, because every time you get to a bus stop or junction you run out of space.
"The northern section of the corridor is actually narrower, so you have definitely run out of space.
"It would require a very large number of land acquisitions to do it, and it's not just the cost, it's the time, there is no way we could deliver this project in the timetable if we were to go along that route.
"It would be a completely different scheme, it would be considerably more expensive, and it would take a much longer period of time to build."
Cllr James Frizzell said that the plan to create new cycle routes alongside streets around the A6 would send cyclists down "quiet, lonely passageways at night" and could create "personal safety" risks.
Members of Walk Ride GM, a group promoting active travel around the region, wrote to Stockport councillors before the town hall meeting on July 29.
They said the A6 is "inaccessible to many" cyclists due to safety concerns, and that the scheme does not need to boil down to "cycles vs buses", arguing that cycle improvements could be made along the road without removing bus lanes.
They added that the A6 is the "only direct route" between Stockport and Manchester/Levenshulme, and could "half" cycle journey times compared to other routes.
Stockport councillors at the Heatons and Reddish Area Committee recommended that the town hall's cabinet member for parks, highways and transport services approves the proposed measures for the A6 Corridor.
But work is not set to begin straight away, with a business case for the plan needing approval.
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