Work to deliver a new ‘Greenway’ connecting Copthorne Playing Fields to the public open space at the Whitefield Brook Development along Valley Road will commence this week.
The Copthorne Greenway will provide a multi-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists and will also provide accessible links to the public footpath beneath the railway line, enabling further connection onto the Leeds to Liverpool Canal in Melling.
Works on the Greenway will commence tomorrow (Tuesday 18 August) and are estimated to take approximately six months to complete.
A public consultation on the Greenway proposals was held last year, with 80% of respondents in support of the creation of the multi-user route.
This will include:
- The creation of a new walking and cycling route, parallel to the M57 (from the rail underpass at Copthorne Playing Fields to the new public open space developed as part of the Whitefield Brook Development)
- A 1.5km long 3m wide shared use cycleway
- New entrances at Melverley Road, Houlston Road, Westfield Walk, Ingoe Lane, Eastfield Walk, Elsted Road, and Conteh Street
- New secure fencing
- New signage and wayfinding
- Woodland habitat improvements and tree planting
- Tree planting
- Meadowland improvements around Copthorne Playing Fields
- Increased car parking for existing residents along Elsted Road, Westfield Road and Eastfield Walk and a new area of public open space near to Valley Road
The parking improvements are scheduled to commence later this autumn once the main infrastructure works are underway.