Work will begin during the first week in February, with completion scheduled for September.  A letter (left) has been delivered to residents and businesses.  You can see maps and plans at the City Council’s website  Eric Wright is a Preston-based civil engineering company, with experience of public and local authority contracts. The team will visit individual businesses along the route as work progresses, with updates and information on specific impacts.

Traffic Management

There will be different traffic management methods (depending on road width), including a lane closure on narrow sections, narrow lanes on wider sections. Main roads won’t be closed. Traffic management zones will be 150-200m long and bus stops will be suspended as necessary. Signage will be in place to warn motorists and to divert through-traffic if possible.

Programme of works

Work begins with the setting up of works compounds (one central, some satellite) on the route. Then the route (1.1km) will be split into 10 zones of roughly 100m. Work will be done zone by zone, first one side of the road, then the other, before moving to the next. It’s estimated that each zone will take c. four weeks to complete.  Work will be done from north to south, so the zone by the Metrolink bridge comes first. A second gang will start work on the new Cyclops (cyle-optimised) junction at the Four Banks in February, tackling one quadrant at a time: the first being the north-east corner (MR Flooring shop). While there is every intention to stick to the timescale, issues such as drainage problems or tree roots could result in delays and the team will only know about these when they start digging. There are concerns about the wider sewer system in Manchester and climate scientists predict a near-60% increase in rainfall by 2050, so good drainage, rain gardens etc will be vital and these are part of the scheme If you trade along the route, representatives from the cycleway team will call in to see you. They will also collect email addresses in order to be able to issue regular updates. We will also share all information as we get it. The project has an email address where you can contact them with questions and concerns – chorltoncyclescheme@manchester.gov.uk.