Frequently asked Questions

The UK Government has set a vision to make England a great walking and cycling nation. In July 2020, the Government published the Gear Change document that sets out the actions required at all levels of government to achieve this vision. The main themes identified are:

Some of the key design principles identified were:

Greater Manchester has ambitions to greatly increase the number of journeys made using sustainable modes of travel, such as walking, cycling and public transport. At the same time, there is also a focus on supporting the high street and businesses in town centres, especially as the economy recovers from the impact of COVID-19.

The proposed scheme strongly aligns with the Gear Change key themes and is consistent with Greater Manchester's Transport Strategy 2040 and the “Right Mix” aims for sustainable travel. The funding also supports the Bee Network infrastructure proposals across Greater Manchester and contribute to achieving the vision of the city region in which walking and cycling are the natural choices for shorter journeys, whether for work, education or leisure.

The changes that are taking place across Bolton and Greater Manchester will support the UK Government’s vision of improving physical health and wellbeing, as well as reducing transport emissions as part of tackling climate change.

Find out more about Made to Move , the Bee Network and Greater Manchester 2040 Strategy .

Find out more about Gear Change .

Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s Cycling and Walking Commissioner, unveiled an innovative new plan to create a city-region-wide cycling and walking network. The Mayor’s Challenge Fund (MCF) aims to kick start the delivery of Chris Boardman’s vision for Greater Manchester to become a city region where walking and cycling are the natural choices for shorter journeys.

The MCF has so far made £160 million available to deliver schemes across Greater Manchester between now and 2022. This supports Greater Manchester's Transport Strategy 2040, the Made to Move ambitions and the Bee Network infrastructure proposal.

Find out more about the Bee Network .

The Safe Streets Save Lives campaign launched in May 2020 giving residents the opportunity to feed into the plans for Bolton. This is supported by Department for Transport survey analysis which resulted in 67% of respondents supporting the reallocation of road space to make cycling safer. Choosing to travel by foot or bicycle plays an important role in achieving climate targets, improving air quality across Greater Manchester and improving the health of the nation.

To help local authorities restart local transport as part of the Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, Department for Transport (DfT) announced a £250 million EATF which will be allocated in two tranches. The main aims of the funding is as follows:

I. encourage more people to cycle or walk more; and

II. support safe social distancing in busy locations such as high streets, outside shops, hospitals and transport hubs.

In addition, it is intended that such measures will lead to a “ lasting transformative change in how we make short journeys in our towns and cities”.

Following the announcement of the fund, Bolton Council conducted an online consultation between May and July 2020. The results of the consultation were used to assist the council in identifying projects to go forward, via the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

As part of the EATF, Bolton Council has partially implemented enhanced cycle lane schemes on the A673 Chorley New Road with a further scheme proposed on the A6 Manchester Road / Salford Road (Chequerbent Roundabout to the borough boundary with Salford).

Through the ATF, Bolton Council is looking to implement the following new cycle lane schemes:

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: “ This latest round of funding will not only support our long-term recovery from the pandemic, it will reduce congestion and air pollution on our roads, making our streets nicer places to be on foot and by bike, and moving us a step closer to a truly integrated transport system ."

The schemes involve enhancements of the existing cycle lanes through the reallocation of road space to cycling along with light segregation to provide a sense of protection from the main traffic flow, using reflective, delineator units known as ‘wand orcas’. These are ideal for minimal space or quick and easy installation of new cycle lanes providing a permanent or temporary solution.

Wand orcas are made up of two parts:

I. ‘Orcas’ are small rubber kerbs placed at regular intervals at the edge of the cycle lane; and

II. ‘Wands’ are flexible, highly visible plastic bollards that fit into the orcas and provide additional safety through increasing visibility of a cycle lane to road traffic.

Photo: Example wand orca, Source: AECOM

The installation of wand orcas affords cyclists greater protection through light segregation, but also do not completely trap cyclists, enabling them to move into the main flow when it is safe to do so. The wands also help to deter encroachment by vehicles and inappropriate parking, which detract from the safe passage of cyclists.

The proposed scheme also accommodates the requirements for highway maintenance and drainage by the provision of a minimum space from the kerb line and appropriate gaps between the units.

Wand orcas have been approved by Department for Transport (DfT) for use on the highway and as part of this process they have been rigorously tested for safety of all users of the highway. Wand orcas have been installed in various places across the country to support the enhancement of new cycle lanes including:

The scheme involves the installation of wand orcas to reinforce existing cycle lane provision on a number of strategic corridors. These will be positioned to ensure that properties with existing accesses on the route are not affected.

In areas along the A666 Bolton Road / Manchester Road, it has been identified that cycle lanes currently run along dedicated inset on-street resident parking. As part of initial design considerations, it is envisaged that the current provision of inset resident parking will be maintained. Design solutions will be utilised to ensure that residents’ parking and cycle lanes can co-exist for example spacing between wand orcas may be increased to allow vehicles to access the inset parking.

In some locations, it is noted that parking is taking place in advisory cycle lanes, and this provision will be reviewed in the context of available roadspace to assess whether inset parking can be extended.

The scheme has been made possible through the EATF, which was launched in May 2020 as part of a package of measures announced by the Transport Minister Grant Shapps. To date, the fund has been allocated in two tranches, with Greater Manchester allocated £3.1million in Tranche 1 and a further £15.7million in Tranche 2, through the subsequent Active Travel Fund (ATF).

Tranche 1 schemes were targeted for quick delivery of measures to support people’s safe movement, health and wellbeing across the region by foot or bike during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic; and Tranche 2 schemes funded through the ATF are focused on more permanent walking and cycling measures, supporting wider efforts to offer alternatives to the car and support healthy lifestyles and improve air quality.

Cost-effective trials and building the case

The initial schemes implemented through the EATF involves the trial of light segregation to better understand the performance of this type of facility and capture the benefits of a segregated provision at a significantly lower cost than a conventional engineering scheme. Delivering a fully segregated scheme, using conventional materials would likely have significant cost implications and would be more time consuming to install.

By trialling the introduction of cost-effective light segregated cycle infrastructure, it will enable Bolton Council and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), to understand how effective it can be, understand any issues, and help build a case to improve cycle facilities further when future funding becomes available. The UK Government’s guidance notes Cycling Infrastructure Design (LTN1/20) identified wand orcas as the minimum acceptable standard for new cycle lanes.

Long-term modal shift

The schemes have been identified with considered potential to grow the number of people cycling along the corridors and each could be improved to provide facilities that support everyday cycling and long-term modal shift. One of the biggest barriers preventing behaviour change is perceived road safety concerns and the scheme seeks to overcome this through the introduction of segregated cycle provision on roads where existing cycle facilities are largely unsegregated.

It is hoped that the light segregation will encourage enough people to cycle to create a more cycle-friendly culture, and that will lead to improved, fully segregated cycle lanes in the future. In turn, this will offer a more favourable alternative to using the footway, which is currently used by some less experienced cyclists and young people, thus freeing up this space again for pedestrians and improving the pedestrian environment.

The design of the scheme, involving reallocation of the roadspace and the installation of vertical measures, is also intended to improve driver behaviour, increasing awareness and consideration of other users, and in the process reducing the potential for collisions with vulnerable users.

COVID response

Owing to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the government is asking people to consider their travel choices, avoid public transport and, where possible, walk or cycle. Enhancing the level of protection for cyclists on this key route, via the quick delivery solution identified, will provide conditions that make people feel safe and see this mode of transport as a first choice.

The pandemic has seen an increase of walking and cycling journeys compared to pre-lockdown, including a number or people transferring from public transport respecting social distancing and / or linked to reduce service levels, and / or for personal health reasons.

Support to inclusive growth and health and wellbeing strategies

It is hoped that by enabling greater access to dedicated cycling facilities that less confident and novice cyclists will feel more confident to use. These changes also complement the wider development of the cycle network and encouraging greater and safer cycle use, which in turn will help improve resilience in the highway network, reduce congestion, improve air quality and help achieve a reduction in carbon emissions over time.

By offering this cycling facility, the scheme will also support the health and wellbeing agenda, and strategies aimed at younger and older persons, by supporting opportunities for healthy and physically active lifestyles, enhancing the town for future generations, alongside supporting independence.

Climate Change

The schemes have been identified as key routes that would benefit from improved cycling facilities to reduce congestion and improve air quality. It is hoped that by improving the facilities it will encourage long-term modal shift. By providing facilities that encourage travel by foot or bicycle, it is hoped that it will encourage long-term modal shift which will support the Government’s goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK by 2050.

The proposed delivery dates are:

Following the consultation, we will review the scheme design and refine as necessary. The construction phasing and temporary road-works will be communicated by Bolton Council when construction is due to commence.

The success of the programme will be measured through monitoring the changes in the number of people travelling actively alongside levels of motor traffic, as well as perceptions and feedback from people who live, work and travel along the corridor.

Once feedback from residents has been gathered, Bolton Council will review success and potentially refine the scheme.

National guidance supported temporary schemes that could me made permanent where they delivered meaningful road space reallocation. The current design proposes that light segregation will be introduced where unsegregated cycle lanes are present. The new cycle lane will be reviewed in accordance with the consultation responses and then either completed, modified or removed.

The new cycle lanes have been allocated funds for maintenance purposes. This is to ensure that the cycle lanes are fit for purpose and provide an attractive route which will allow people who cycle to easily navigate around the district. The reallocation of road space to cycle lanes will cause traffic to flow into a narrow section of the carriageway. By improving the cycle lanes on these routes, it is anticipated that there will be an increase in those choosing to travel by bicycle, therefore reducing the overall motor vehicles journeys through the area and as such reduce the burden on the maintenance budget.

There will be a six-week consultation on these changes, from Monday 22 March 2021 to Sunday 2 May 2021 when you can give your views.

Owing to current COVID-19 restrictions, it is not possible to stage face-to-face consultation events, however all information will be available online.

We have set up a short survey aimed at residents, employees and visitors, in which we are seeking feedback on the scheme as implemented.

Please go to the 'Have your say!' section and follow the link here .

Email

Alternatively, you can contact us by email at atf@bolton.gov.uk .

Please use ‘ATF Consultation’ in the subject box.

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FAO: ATF Consultation (Highways & Engineering)

Bolton Council, Town Hall, Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1RU