Visitors to Peel Park will be getting a warm new welcome thanks to plans to open up access.
Salford City Council has secured £255,000 of Local Sustainable Transport Funding from the government to make it easier for people with disabilities to enjoy visiting.
Top of the list is a plan to refurbish and re-open a historic footbridge across the River Irwell and create a new, wheelchair friendly ramp leading to it.
Work will also be carried out to create a new riverside path at the Meadows end of the bridge and a new seating terrace at the other end of the bridge in Peel Park.
Improvements will include a new path across the centre of the Meadows and resurfacing, new lighting, seating, benches, signs and interpretation to improve the existing riverside walkway.
The work builds on £100,000 worth of resurfacing and lighting improvements carried out by the council and the University of Salford last year to the path into the park leading past the Maxwell building.
Some self-seeded trees, dead and dying trees will be removed and some replaced to improve views in and around the park. The floral mound outside Salford Museum and Art Gallery will also be removed along with several trees to restore the original look of the historic building. All the work is expected to be completed by spring next year.
“This is part of plans to tie Peel Park and the Meadows together as the largest green space at the heart of Salford. Peel Park was one of the first public parks in the world when it opened in 1846 and we want to make sure people can carry on enjoying it for the next 160 years or more,” said Councillor Gena Merrett, assistant mayor for housing and environment.
