News on Safe Streets Trafford

To prevent the spread of Covid-19, Central Government identified funding for local authorities to introduce temporary measures and help communities maintain social distancing.

Since the pandemic, we witnessed a reduction in people using motor vehicles and instead opting to walk or cycle when travelling short distances across Trafford. Therefore, it was important for me and my team at One Trafford (a partnership between Amey and Trafford Council), to create solutions for people using Trafford Council’s highway network. To support the increased desire of walking and cycling, we have been installing temporary measures to help people maintain social distancing.

We have installed three pop up cycle lanes and made room for pedestrians at:

In Urmston we have provided temporary measures to maintain social distancing for food establishments at:

Works have also been put in place to prevent vehicular access on Moss Lane, Altrincham, where the route is currently closed to vehicular traffic from Moss Lane to its junction with Oakfield Road.

We have been engaging with the community by giving them the chance to voice their opinions and requests on social distancing measures via several channels. This includes telephone, email, postal address, social media and a web-based tool known as ‘Commonplace’ which allows residents in Trafford to pinpoint a location and add their comments. The team have used this engagement tool in the past and found that it was very useful when engaging with communities to address their concerns.

The next stage of the project will be to prioritise the comments received, through using a matrix system. I have created this process to generate a priority score based on a set of variable questions which relate to each individual request. The matrix will generate a score for each request and the highest scoring requests will be progressed further, when planning future works as part of the Safe Streets Trafford initiative.

I feel that the work we are carrying out will greatly improve walking and cycling within Trafford. The measures we are installing provide cyclists with a semi segregated area where they are free from motor vehicles, this in turn allows the footpath to be free from cyclists, allowing social distancing to be maintained among pedestrians. Also, the reduction of vehicles on our roads will have a positive effect on the current pollution levels, improving the health of the community. Overall, The initiatives we are installing and proposing will have a positive impact on the residents of Trafford.

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Article by Troy Cartledge, Traffic Engineer, One Trafford Partnership, Amey Consulting