Rural Issues
Although Greater Manchester is primarily an urban area, there are a significant number of rural and semi-rural wards towards
the edge of the conurbation. Many of these have similar transport needs to those of the more urban areas, but there can be
difficulties of access to public transport for those who do not have the use of a car. Fig. 4.6 shows areas which have poor
Rural areas also provide a focus for leisure activity and may attract considerable traffic at weekends and in holiday periods. The most obvious example of this is the cross-boundary issue of traffic to the adjacent Peak National Park.
Rural and semi-rural routes are carrying increasing amounts of traffic as a result of commuting into urban areas and their
use as short cuts to avoid congested major routes. Safe walking , cycling and horse riding routes are therefore required.
Problems on the
This problem of increasing traffic puts such roads under stress, and is manifested in problems such as inappropriate speed and over-running of verges, sometimes supplemented by fly-tipping, which lead to a degradation of the road environment as well as safety problems.
