Mickle Trafford Greenway Extension Now Open

The first of the major CDT infrastructure projects is now open.  The long-awaited official opening of the latest section of the Chester Millennium Greenway took place on 25 October 2009.

Residents of Guilden Sutton and Mickle Trafford now have a traffic-free route into the city centre, and Chester residents have better access to the countryside to the east of the city.   The new stretch includes a new pedestrian bridge over the Chester to Manchester railway line as well as a series of links and access points. These are situated in Fairfield Road, Mannings Lane (South), the A41 at Greenfield Lane, an access point near Guilden Sutton, and Station Lane, Mickle Trafford.

To mark the opening, the Chester Cycling Campaign has created a photo gallery providing a good overview of the new Greenway Extension.

Work on the project started in June 2009.  The 16 week scheme was funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) as part of REVIVE – the project which aims to reclaim 170 hectares of brownfield land in Cheshire and Warrington.

A detailed description of the route and the history of the campaign to save the route from the misguided Guided Busway proposals and to get the extension built are included in Steve Howe’s excellent Virtual Stroll website.

An active group of volunteers, Friends of the Millennium Greenway, have worked long and hard campaigning for the building of the extension.  The opening of the extension is a tribute to their hard work.  The group organises periodic planting and maintenance days on the Greenway.  Please support these volunteer days if you can spare a couple of hours.