For anyone familiar with my older posts about Stretford may remember proposals for Kingsway, way way back in 2015. These were part of the public realm scheme put forward by the old Tory exec, that saw most of the subways filled at the junction with the A56, making an absolute pig’s ear of the junction and not much else.

Thankfully, in the years since, plans for Kingsway have significantly improved on the originals, particularly in terms of cycle provision. The current work forms part of a larger set of improvements happening in Stretford, which includes the partial demolition of Stretford Mall and the reinstatement of King Street.

As part of the development of the scheme, there’s been a number of consultations, some might say too many. It has felt like it’s taken a long time to reach this point. Though it’s good to see these have been genuine consultations, not like the original sham consultation from the Tory exec, with loaded questions, to ensure they could proceed with closing the subways.

The following images are from the Stretford Public Realm Improvement Designs leaflet (view PDF), this is taken from the Stretford Town Centre Public Realm Improvement works on the council’s website.

The following are the detailed designs (view PDF, page 1, page 2, page 3), which the council weren’t very forthcoming with, so only became available, following a FOI request.

On Saturday 27th January, I went for a look round the eastbound side of Kingsway to take a look, now that side is nearing completion. As this side is being finished, work has now started on the westbound side, so it’s progressing well.

Overall, I’m impressed with what has been done so far. The design suits the space well and is quite imaginative, with lots of planting with SuDS drainage and decent materials used.

From a cycling perspective, the cycle path is narrower than it should have been, given the available space and LTN 1/20 guidance. Apart from that, the surface is relatively smooth, but still a little bumpy. It’s significantly better than the other recent attempts in Trafford, such as the Talbot Road / White City Way CYCLOPS, which has an awful surface. Why is this so difficult?

It’s good to see splayed kerbs being used, which we haven’t seen on other schemes in Trafford. These are more forgiving, if you get too close to them as you’re riding and for pedestrians crossing the cycle path. I’m also pleased to see a fair amount of cycle parking included, though I hope there will be more on the opposite side.

The big question, which we’re still some time away from being able to answer, is whether reducing the number of general traffic lanes to two has enough of an impact on Kingsway, to make this a place people want to be in.

I still have concerns it’ll potentially end up like Poynton, the poster child for shared space schemes. While the Kingsway scheme isn’t strictly shared space, the pedestrian crossings appear to be informal. Is that appropriate for the level of traffic Kingsway carries?