new guide to improve the way streets are designed and developed has been adopted in Greater Manchester.
The Streets for All Design Guide, part of the Greater Manchester Streets for All strategy, sets out guidance and standards for how streets will look, feel and function in the years ahead. The guide will inform designs, with the aim of ensuring they are safe and accessible for all, as well as greener and more comfortable places to be.
It also supports the delivery of the Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s vision for a fully-integrated, London-style public transport network – by improving reliability and journey times for public transport and enabling better walking and wheeling access to bus and Metrolink stops.
The technical design guide has been co-developed by Transport for Greater Manchester together with the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities.
Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey said: “When I took the role of Active Travel Commissioner the development of the GM Streets for All Design guide was well underway, supporting the ambition to ensure all streets are welcoming and safe, with more planted areas to provide pleasant and accessible places for all ages.
“A big part of Streets for All is about enabling people to walk, wheel and cycle to their destination with ease, while providing accessible and convenient connections to public transport and helping our streets work better for bus services. High-quality public spaces can also help local communities and businesses thrive.
“I’m delighted that the new Streets for All Design Guide has been officially adopted by all 10 local authorities and I look forward to seeing how it will shape our streets in future.”
Now approved for use by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the guide will be a key tool for professionals involved in the development of streets across the city-region.
The guide focusses on making best use of street space by striking a better balance between the different ways people use their streets, a balance that will vary from place to place.
Projects across the region are already using the Streets for All approach to design, including Market Street in Farnworth.
A further example of this includes improvements to Heywood Town Centre, where more accessible bus stops, traffic signals and pedestrian crossings will be installed as part of a wider programme of work to improve bus travel in Rochdale, subject to a public consultatio
