Phase 2 of the Wilmslow to Handforth cycleway starts 5 October. Signals from 7 October, then a full road closure from 11 February. Every date listed.
Work on the second half of the Wilmslow to Handforth cycle route starts on Monday 5 October. It is due to run until the end of March 2027.
Cheshire East Council has published the phase-by-phase traffic management for the job. It includes a full road closure of Manchester Road for almost three weeks in February, between the Stanneylands junction and Styal Road.
Wilmslow is about six miles north-west of Macclesfield. Handforth sits about two miles north of Wilmslow.
Every date the council has published
The council’s scheme page, last reviewed on 14 September, sets out the programme. It warns that all dates are approximate and may change.
| Works | Dates | Traffic management |
|---|---|---|
| Site set up | 5 to 9 October 2026 | None required |
| Wilmslow Cemetery entrance | 7 to 15 October 2026 | Two-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
| Railway bridge improvements | 16 and 17 October 2026 | Two-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
| Bus stop works | 16 and 17 October 2026 | Two-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
| Bluebell Way junction | 17 November to 16 December 2026 | Three-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
| Footpath repairs | 16 and 17 December 2026 | To be confirmed |
| Styal Road junction | 18 December 2026 to 10 February 2027 | Three-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
| Resurfacing and line markings | 11 February to 1 March 2027 | Full road closure, Stanneylands junction to Styal Road |
| Cycle lane kerb installation | 2 to 31 March 2027 | Two-way temporary signals, lane restrictions |
The council says work will run on weekdays and may include some weekends.
What is being built
Phase 2 covers the stretch from Wilmslow Cemetery to the Styal Road junction. Phase 1, from Station Road in Handforth to the cemetery, was finished in March 2026. The whole route is 1.5 miles and is funded by Active Travel England.
The next phase includes:
- an extension of the segregated two-way cycleway along Manchester Road
- changes to the Network Rail bridge to fit the new cycling infrastructure
- cycle bypasses at two bus stops
- zebra crossings at Bluebell Way and Styal Road
- footway improvements
- full resurfacing of the carriageway
Neither the council’s media release of 17 September nor the scheme page gives a cost for phase 2.
The council’s own report says most of what it heard was negative
Cheshire East held an engagement event at Wilmslow Library on 10 September. It has since published a feedback summary of what was said. Sixty-four attendees gave a postcode on the way in, the report says, although the table of postcodes it prints adds up to 63. Fifty-one of the listed attendees were in SK9 2, SK9 3 and SK9 4. One came from ST8, in Staffordshire. One further email arrived after the event.
The report is unusually blunt about the balance of opinion. “Whilst the majority of opinions received were negative, there was positive support from some attendees,” it records.
The recurring complaints were congestion since phase 1, the loss of road width, vehicles parking in the new cycle lane, and the choice of a single two-way cycle lane rather than one lane on each side.
Councillor Mark Goldsmith, the council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, addressed that last point directly in the release.
“While a separate cycle lane on each side of the road was a common request, unfortunately the environmental and financial cost for this is just too high,” he said. “The road would need widening, which is expensive and would remove the mature beech trees that are a key part of the character of Manchester Road.”
The tree being felled is not the tree that was consulted on
One answer in the feedback report corrects the council’s own paperwork. A consultation ran from 29 July to 25 August 2026 on removing a single tree south of Bluebell Way to make room for the new zebra crossing.
That consultation named the tree as a sycamore. It is not one.
“An error was made in the tree consultation,” the report says. “The tree currently identified for removal is a silver birch, which has a shorter expected life span than a sycamore and is considered to have lower value.”
The council now says it will look at moving the crossing slightly to avoid taking the tree at all, if that can still meet the standards for a zebra crossing. It says a planting programme elsewhere on the route currently covers more than 20 new trees.
How many people are using phase 1
Residents at the event questioned whether the cycleway is used enough to justify the road space. The council answered with its own sensor data for the first time.
Counters at the Stanneylands junction record a daily average of about 240 cyclists on the new cycle track, counting both directions, and about 170 pedestrians on the western footway. The council expects that to rise once phase 2 opens.
Two other answers are worth knowing:
- Parking in the cycle lane. The council says it has no legal power to enforce against it. That sits with the police.
- Potholes. The Active Travel England money is ring-fenced for this scheme and cannot be spent on general highway maintenance. The full carriageway of both phases is being resurfaced as part of the works.
Phase 3, which would have carried the route on past Styal Road towards Cliff Road, is on hold. The report says the proposals “were not well received” at the 2021 consultation and 2022 engagement, and the council did not have a mandate to proceed. The Swan Street and Station Road junction is still being assessed.
What it means for you
If you drive, cycle, walk or catch a bus along Manchester Road, expect six months of moving disruption from 7 October.
- Buses will keep running, but the council says there may be some impact and operators may run revised routes. Check your operator before travelling.
- Bin collections will not be affected. The council says it is working with the waste team.
- Pedestrians and cyclists will keep access throughout. Cyclists will be asked to dismount through the works.
- Drivers should plan around the three-way signals at Bluebell Way from 17 November and at Styal Road from 18 December. Those are the two longest signal phases, and they cover the run-up to Christmas.
- The full closure is the one to diarise: 11 February to 1 March 2027, Stanneylands junction to Styal Road, with a signed diversion.
Advance warning signs are due to go up shortly. Traffic management details and diversion routes will be published on the scheme page before each phase.
We keep the live picture for the wider area on our Macclesfield roadworks and travel page, and the rules on where you can leave a car on our parking page.
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