BOLTON residents are being asked to give their thoughts on which roads need social distancing measures in place to make it safe for people walking and cycling amid the health crisis.

Volunteer group Walk Ride Greater Manchester (WRGM) is working with Bolton Council to help launch online tools where people can make #safestreets suggestions during the coronavirus pandemic.

An interactive map of the town has been launched this week, with suggestions from residents already made.

Residents can flag streets and neighbourhoods where it is currently tricky to keep 2m away from others while walking or cycling and protect themselves from coming in close contact with others.

To submit suggestions for aiding physical distancing for people walking and cycling in Bolton visit www.safestreetsbolton.commonplace.is/

Across Greater Manchester, journeys by foot or bike have now become essential travel services accounting for approximately 33 per cent of all travel.

And as a result Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham launched a £5m #SafeStreetsSaveLives emergency fund to enable councils to carry out measures to support distancing during coronavirus lockdown and recovery, with further funding promised from the government as part of a £2bn national package.

WRGM wants to encourage residents to get involved in reconfiguring their streets during the pandemic, with the hope that some changes are made permanent as a part of the region’s long-term strategy to reduce car journeys by 1m a day across Greater Manchester.

WRGM’s Claire Stocks said: “With members of the public asked to avoid public transport, it is crucial that the streets and pavements of Greater Manchester are rapidly made safer to walk and ride a bike. "There is no time to lose if we don’t want residents to get back into their cars, contributing to even more congestion and air pollution than there was before the pandemic hit — bearing in mind that traffic jams were already said to cost Greater Manchester £169m a year and air quality was already at illegal levels.”

She added: “With so many people out and about enjoying cleaner air and emptier streets, and surveys showing only nine per cent of people saying they want to ‘go back to how things were’ - this is a once-in-a-generation chance to reshape our streets for the better.

“We hope that many of the temporary interventions will be so popular that they will become permanent, leading Greater Manchester towards a future where our neighbourhoods and centres are clean, green, safe places to enjoy, rather than choked by congestion and pollution.”