Chris Boardman - Salford Quays Bike Hanger - Vancouver Quay

Residents in Salford will find it easier to store their bikes securely outside their homes thanks to a new initiative aimed at increasing cycling.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Salford City Council are piloting a new scheme to introduce secure bike hangars on streets where residents have little or no internal space to store their bikes. The hangars will be the first in Greater Manchester.

A bike hangar is a compact shelter that can hold up to six bicycles, offering a secure solution to long-term cycle parking as well as an effective way to protect bikes from tough weather conditions, theft and vandalism.

It is the height, width and length of a small car and takes up about the same amount of room on the street as a car parking space. They can be placed either on the road or pavement.

There are 11 hangars located across Salford. If residents want to sign up for the scheme they will pay a £25 key deposit and an annual fee for their space. Initially the annual fee will be subsidised at £20 per year for the first two years, going up to £40 per year thereafter.

Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Commissioner Chris Boardman is keen for as many people as possible to see cycling as a safe, convenient and easy way to travel.

In June he launched an innovative proposal to create a city-region-wide cycling and walking network made up of more than 1,000 miles of routes, with 75 miles of segregated bike lanes, and sees access to low-cost secure cycle storage on the doorstep as a way to encourage more people to travel by bike.

He said: “Bike parking at home is a crucially important factor in getting more people to ride. If an everyday parking option is not convenient, secure and low-cost, they will simply decide it’s too much hassle.

“Bike hangars are a fantastic addition to residential streets – I’m sure thousands of Greater Manchester residents would like one outside their house. I’ll be following the Salford pilot with interest and I hope that the idea catches on across the city-region.”

Councillor Roger Jones, Salford City Council’s Executive Support for Transport, said: “The bike hangar scheme is a new way to make it possible for residents to own a bike who may not have the storage for it.

“Feedback so far has been positive and we hope the trial is a huge success.”

Leona Sanders, bike hangar member, said: “My husband and I both signed up to the scheme once we knew the bike hangars would be built on our doorstep.

“We live on the second floor and having to take our bikes up and down was a bit of a nightmare. So this scheme has been brilliant and has made a real difference to both of us.

“It’s good value for money and straightforward to sign up. All we needed to do was fill in a survey, apply online and then after a few weeks, once the hangars had been installed, we received the keys in the post.”

The pilot scheme is funded through the DfT’s Cycle City Ambition Grant (CCAG).

To find out more about the bike hangar scheme, visit the Salford City Council website.

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