Active Travel in Cheshire East

Cheshire East is perfect for walking, wheeling and cycling, not too flat, not too hilly, with market towns and some very picturesque countryside in between. The Travel Cheshire website will help you find what you're looking for.

Cycling Strategy and supporting policies

Local Transport Strategy

Cheshire East Council’s Local Transport Plan 2019 - 2024 (PDF, 2.4MB) was adopted in October 2019. The strategy considers all forms of transport over the 5-year period of 2019 - 2024. It is a framework for how transport will support wider policies to improve our economy, protect our environment and make attractive places to live, work and play. The Local Transport Plan (LTP) outlines the role transport will play in supporting the long-term goals of Cheshire East.

The LTP is supported by other strategies, including the Cycling Strategy, a Sustainable Modes of Travel to School (SMOTS) strategy and a Compulsory School Age Education Travel Policy.

Cycling Strategy

Our cycling strategy (PDF, 2MB) sets out an ambitious vision for a network of high quality strategic cycle routes which connect local communities and key growth areas whilst also giving access to leisure opportunities and the natural environment of Cheshire East. The executive summary (PDF, 5MB) outlines the headlines of the cycling strategy.

A key action of the Cycling Strategy is the implementation of a cycle proofing toolkit (PDF, 231KB) to ensure that new development schemes take cycling into consideration as part of the design and planning process. We have trained officers to ensure this happens.

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans 

We adopted Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) for Crewe, Congleton, Macclesfield and Wilmslow in 2021. We are currently developing an LCWIP for mid-Cheshire towns in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council and also for Knutsford, Middlewich, Nantwich, Poynton and Alsager.

See the completed LCWIPs item 97. These were adopted by Cabinet in March 2021.

Cycling and Walking Champion

Councillor Chris Hilliard has been appointed as Cheshire East’s Cycling and Walking Champion. The Cycling and Walking Champion will work to promote cycling for all across the borough. They will also work with Committee members and senior officers to help focus council policies to put cycling at the heart of the planning and design of the borough’s streets, communities and green spaces.

Our ambition is a ‘step change’ in the take up of cycling by residents of all ages across Cheshire East – with a focus on encouraging more people to cycle safely and walk more often with confidence for everyday journeys and leisure, especially into and out of town and village centres. Incorporating walking into the role will enable the thinking around sustainability, connectivity and accessibility – especially for wheelchair users, pushchairs and mobility scooters.

Projects

Cheshire East Council works with external funding partners to deliver active travel projects around the borough. Here are a few examples of recent work:

Delivery of a section of the A538 Altrincham Road segregated shared path near the Waters employment site in Wilmslow, plugging a known gap in the high-quality strategic link towards Manchester Airport. This was funded through the Council’s Local Transport Plan (LTP) annual allocation for active travel. Further improvements are proposed along this strategic active travel route, following a successful bid for UK Shared Prosperity Funding, to improve the pedestrian and cycle crossing point at the Waters Roundabout. This work will be completed in 2024.

Sustrans has provided £600.000 towards improvements for cyclists and pedestrians on a section of the Middlewood Way on Black Lane and Hurdsfield Road in Macclesfield. An additional £100,000 funding has been provided by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Footways on Black Lane and Hurdsfield Road have been widened to provide a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists. New crossing points have been added. The scheme also includes upgrades to a toucan crossing and a signalled junction on Hurdsfield Road and improved street lighting. Tactile surface tiling has been laid to emphasise walking and cycling priority. Well as new signage, there is new guard rail alongside the River Bollin. The installation of a new parallel crossing for pedestrians and cyclists at the exit from the Tesco store in March 2024 completed the scheme. 

Cheshire East has been developing a high-quality active travel route on Manchester Road between Wilmslow town centre and Handforth, with regular engagement with Active Travel England (ATE), the main funding body.  ATE has already awarded £1.3M in 2023 to deliver the Northern section (north of the railway bridge) and £673,000 was awarded in March 2024 to help deliver the Middle section. The full route provides light segregation and a widened mandatory cycle lane, significantly enhancing the safety of an existing advisory on-road cycle route. The speed limit will be reduced from 40mph to 30mph throughout. Additional controlled crossings and side road treatments will enhance pedestrian priority, increasing safety whilst reducing air and noise pollution. Additional planting to improve the urban realm will be provided and benches to improve accessibility and comfort for users. We are working with Network Rail to remove the concrete barriers which obstruct the existing cycle lane over the railway bridge.

Further information

Further information to help you discover different ways to get around and explore Cheshire East can be found at Travel Cheshire

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Page last reviewed: 30 April 2024