A lot has happened since my last post on Kingsway, back in February 2024. At that time, I was checking out the newly installed sun loungers, which were receiving some attention in the media, due to another disingenuous campaign by Trafford Tories, who clearly don’t like money being spent outside their heartland in the south of the borough.

Back in February, work was still in progress on the eastbound side, one of general traffic lanes were closed and the westbound side was yet to start in earnest. Since then, all work has completed and Kingsway has fully reopened, while the related work on Stretford town centre, on King Street and the car park continues.

Now that the work is complete, I’ll look at how successful the scheme is, largely from a cycling perspective, but also how well it works for walking and placemaking.

But first of all, it’s worth remembering how bad Kingsway used to be. Built in a different age, when the car was king, it prioritised traffic flow over the convenience and safety of pedestrians.

With four lanes of traffic in a sea of asphalt and anti-pedestrian guardrails, it forced pedestrians to use an inaccessible underpass or unresponsive signalled crossing to get across to Stretford Mall, effectively severing the town centre from the local area.

I’m pleased to say, things are significantly better now. The removal of two traffic lanes and guardrails has rebalanced Kingsway in favour of people walking and cycling. The introduction of open green space, planting and places to linger has transformed the area, once again linking the town centre with the wider area.

Something I was thinking about when listening to the third episode of Walk Ride GM’s Moving Up North podcast, as it wasn’t fully spelt out on there. Kingsway isn’t a cycling scheme, it’s primarily a public realm, placemaking scheme, forming part of the UK Government’s Future High Street Funded improvements to Stretford town centre.

This is important when you look at the cycling infrastructure that’s been implemented on Kingsway and the shortcomings. Because while cycling infrastructure has been incorporated into the scheme, it’s not necessarily meant to be an exemplar, but more on that later.

What works well

Starting with the cycle path itself, this is finished to a much higher standard than nearly all other schemes in Trafford. The only other comparable example in the borough is the new Regent Road scheme in Altrincham.

Compared to the recent CYCLOPS junctions completed along Talbot Road at the same time, which are bumpy with a green patchwork, the Kingsway cycle paths are pretty smooth. They’re not completely smooth, and would be better if the surface was machine laid, but they’re still better than a lot we’ve seen.

The cycle paths also feature forgiving splayed kerbs on either side along the route, something not included in the recent CYCLOPS junctions, which feature standard kerbs. There’s two main benefits to these, you’re less likely to strike the kerb with a pedal if you get too close and you’re able to go up and down the kerb without falling off.

An additional nice touch is where the splayed kerbs border the planted areas, they feature SuDS drainage gaps, so that water is diverted onto the plants, rather than collecting in the cycle path or down the drain.

On the subject of SuDS, a significant effort has been made to include plenty of green space within the scheme. While at the moment, the planted areas look a little bare, give it a couple of years once the planting has been established and it will look very different.

Not only does the green space make it a nicer place to spend time, it acts as a natural barrier from the traffic, as well as going a little way to improving the air quality. Also, the SuDS drainage recycles rainwater, while providing somewhere for the water to go, so helping to reduce the flood risk.

Something that was a little lacking along Kingsway previously was adequate cycle parking. Indeed, what little there was ended up getting reduced after someone decided to cut the Sheffield stands to steal bikes.

Now, you’ll find cycle parking in multiple locations along Kingsway, including outside the library, opposite the car park and near the sun loungers, which is great to see. Hopefully, this will be augmented with additional parking on the Stretford Mall side, once work is complete on King Street.

Well, we couldn’t talk about Kingsway without mentioning the wonderful sun loungers, could we?! In addition to those iconic sun loungers, there’s plenty of new seating along the street including multiple benches and picnic benches.

This means there’s plenty of options, whether you just want to rest your feet as you walk along Kingsway or linger a bit longer.

What could be better

In terms of the shortcomings, the key issues raised relate to the width of the cycle paths and the lack of improvements at the A56 and Barton Road junctions.

Starting with the width of the cycle path, 1.5m is less than the LTN 1/20’s guidance, which says it should be an absolute minimum of 2.0m for the traffic levels along here. With the reduction in general traffic lanes, there’s sufficient space, so it’s disappointing it’s not a minimum of 2.0m.

Onto the junctions at either end of Kingsway. The A56 junction sits outside of both the Kingsway and A56 schemes, which is disappointing, but probably understandable. Addressing the safety issues with this junction, following the major issues introduced as part of 2017 scheme that saw the subways removed would be a significant amount of work and a scheme in itself.

The lack of improvement at the Barton Road junction is less excusable, as this junction falls within the scope of the scheme and has received some improvements, just no improvements for cycling. This is disappointing, as there was a real opportunity to make the Barton Road junction safe for cycling, which could have then linked to future safe routes to Urmston and the Trafford Centre.

It’s not like they can use the excuse there isn’t sufficient space at the junction. As part of the scheme, the left filter from Barton Road has been removed, which has been used to create a massively wide footway. While creating space for walking it great, this is a bit excessive for the footfall here, when this space could have been used to create safe space for cycling.

The wider footways continue past the parade where BrewChimp is, where it’s at least being used to provide some outdoor seating. The guardrails have also been removed from here, which is a good thing, but means there’s no longer anywhere to lock a bike to.

Previously, the guardrails were a convenient structure for attaching bike locks to, when accessing the parade. No bike racks have been installed here, making cycling here less convenient than it should be. Again, it’s not like there isn’t space.

Another shortcoming of the Kingsway scheme is the lack of permeability for people walking or cycling. While the planting along the road provides a buffer between the general traffic lanes and cycleways / footways, it effectively acts as a barrier, in the same way the guardrails used to, as no gaps in the planting have been included.

So, outside of the formal crossing points, there’s no other way to cross Kingsway, unless you want wade across the planting. This becomes an issue if you choose to leave the town centre on bike from the multistorey car park entrance and try to head eastbound.

Doing this, you’ll find there’s no way to access the cyclepath, so you have to carry on in the general traffic lane until you reach the signalled crossing. It seems the designers of the scheme only expect people to cycle through Kingway and don’t see that people might be cycling to Stretford town centre as a destination.

Overall, in the scope of the scheme, it’s a significant improvement over what we had before. The reduction in lanes, removal of barriers and hard surfaces has created a much more people friendly space, that’s not so dominated by traffic.

Time will tell how successful the scheme will be in the context of the redevelopment of the town centre, with phase 1 still under development, but we’re off to a really good start, as this area already feels transformed.

Westbound

Starting at the A56 junction, there’s initially the remnants of an old painted lane, before a short section of a narrow wand-protected cycle lane, which carries on past the access road entrance.

Shortly after, the new cycle path begins, where it continues in a straight line until reaching the signalled pedestrian crossing. After the crossing, it swerves to the left and then passes behind the bus stops, providing a safe way to bypass the buses.

Next, the cycle path crosses the new entrance to the car park, following the removal of the old ramp. Priority is given to the cycleway, with green paint continuing across the junction. As is nearly always the case, this isn’t truly continuous, as there’s flush kerbs that didn’t need to be there.

Following another signalled pedestrian crossing, there is the entrance to the surface car park. Again, the cycleway has priority here, but it doesn’t feel truly continuous, due to different treatment across the junction. There’s then a short section of cycle path, before ending just before the Barton Road junction.

Eastbound

With no junctions to deal with, the eastbound side is much more straightforward than the westbound. Starting at the Barton Road junction, the cycle path starts as it passes Stretford Library and the large open space in front of it. At this stage, there’s planting on either side, as well as a few stray stones.

Passing the first signalled pedestrian crossing, the cycle path continues between more planting, before it bypasses the bus stops. From there, it continues beyond the second signalled pedestrian crossing.

Next, there’s another large open space with more planting and the famous sun loungers. Shortly after, the cycle path ends and a short section of wand-protected cycle lane continues, before turning into an unprotected lane as you approach the A56 junction.