Commuting route advice - Bolton to Manchester centre

[Schneil]

Hi all

I'm going to be living at the in-laws in Bolton for the next 3-4 weeks. I work near the university of Manchester. I was considering taking the train from Bolton station to Manchester Oxford road. But the recent situation with northern rail and scare stories from work colleagues have put me off the idea. Can anyone suggest a route from Lever edge lane in Bolton to Oxford road in Manchester? (And the return journey). There looks like an old railway line that would take me into near Eccles? If I used that is the surface ok for a road bike? I'm guessing it's not lit? What's it like at night? I'm a reasonably competent cyclist, so hills don't scare me, but some of Bolton's crazy drivers do. Thanks all

 

[Katherine]

The (old railway line) loop line is a great path and well used by cyclists. Watch out for joggers and dog walkers. It's not lit at night so you need decent lights. It comes out in Monton. After that it's quicker to stay on the road to Eccles, until you get to the pedestrian bridge over the motorway by the station. If the traffic traffic is too heavy to filter you will probably find your own short cuts using the side roads.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

Bolton's crazy drivers have nothing on the ones in Manchester city centre!

 

[Schneil]

It's not lit at night so you need decent lights. It comes out in Monton. After that it's quicker to stay on the road to Eccles, until you get to the pedestrian bridge over the motorway by the station. If the traffic traffic is too heavy to filter you will probably find your own short cuts using the side roads.

Hello Katherine
I used the loop line all the way to Monton, then went past Salford Royal, and then Liverpool Street into Manchester City centre, is this the route you'd use?

 

[Katherine]

Hello Katherine
I used the loop line all the way to Monton, then went past Salford Royal, and then Liverpool Street into Manchester City centre, is this the route you'd use?

I'm not a commuter so I don't know what I would do past Salford Royal, but up to that bit, yes.

 

[doughnut]

Not sure whereabouts in Bolton you are starting from but here's my commute from Chorley into Manchester.

https://www.strava.com/activities/900770502

You might head across from Bolton and join the railway line before Walkden which takes you (cycle path) right inside the M60. Early in the morning (before 7) you wont see anyone on the cycle path. Coming home in the afternoon, its a bit busier but still far better than the roads.

 

[Bazzer]

If your route takes you past Salford Royal, Liverpool Street is likely to be more a more direct route. Liverpool Street through Langworthy will be more quiet than the A6, (past Salford University), but the A6 does have the benefit of a cycle/bus lane. However the slip road to the A5603 would I think need assertive riding.Where both roads meet Manchester they are about half a mile apart, so not a huge amount, but the starting point of both roads is more than that.
Liverpool Street is a crap road surface, (worse into the city than leaving it) from the junction with the A5603, (where the Vauxhall dealer is) and with the road works on Regent Road, traffic is slow from that junction even at the time I travel along it, (6.20 ish). So as a cyclist you are forced on to the really crap surface. It does though have the benefit of a cycle way where it meets Trinity Way, so you can go straight ahead rather than cars which have to turn left or right. I think the cycleway brings you out near Quay Street, but I have never used it.
If you have come down the A6, you would have a couple of choices. Turn right onto Trinity Way and then to the City Centre along Quay Street, or turn right on Bridge Street. It would depend upon you final destination.

 

[Schneil]

Not sure whereabouts in Bolton you are starting from but here's my commute from Chorley into Manchester.

https://www.strava.com/activities/900770502

You might head across from Bolton and join the railway line before Walkden which takes you (cycle path) right inside the M60. Early in the morning (before 7) you wont see anyone on the cycle path. Coming home in the afternoon, its a bit busier but still far better than the roads.

Wow that's an impressive commute - and speed!

 

[doughnut]

Haha, yes - its a very early start in the morning so the roads and cyclepath are empty, I can get the hammer down. It helps that almost the whole route is very slightly downhill. There is a very kind old lady at work who knows what day I do it, bakes flapjacks the day before and comes in early so she can help me recover as soon as I arrive - think I gave her a shock at the state I was in when I first started doing it.

 

[Schneil]

Hi all

Thanks for the advice.
I tried the railway line and although it's traffic free, but the times I'm doing it (around 8am) it's very busy with kids&dogs. Then at 6:30pm, although it;s dark, it is still busy. Also the leaves are accumulating and will be getting slushy soon.

Liverpool street did have a cycle lane, but you're right the surface is pretty crap!

So my preferred route now is:
Lever Edge lane, then Green Lane
A6503 to the M60 roundabout
A666 to the A6. Don't go on the A6, use the road alongside (Bolton Rd)
Go behind the old school at Irlam-on-the heights and joind Eccles old Road (A576), use this to join the A6
Use the A6 to get into Manchester.

It's busy, but at commuting times the traffic is mainly queueing. The bus lanes and cycle lanes are a real help.
The annoyances are the cycle lane on the A666 being used as a car park.
Also going back up hill on Lever Edge Lane on the return home is no fun. The driving standard rounfd there is piss poor and despite the speedhumps, people use it as a racetrack I feel like a sitting duck

 

[Schneil]

Haha, yes - its a very early start in the morning so the roads and cyclepath are empty, I can get the hammer down. It helps that almost the whole route is very slightly downhill. There is a very kind old lady at work who knows what day I do it, bakes flapjacks the day before and comes in early so she can help me recover as soon as I arrive - think I gave her a shock at the state I was in when I first started doing it.

Yeah it's amazing how much harder doing a bike ride as a commute is. I'm having today off the bike and took the train in, 4 days of cycle commuting was enough for 1 week.

 

[Bazzer]

......The annoyances are the cycle lane on the A666 being used as a car park.
Also going back up hill on Lever Edge Lane on the return home is no fun. The driving standard rounfd there is piss poor and despite the speedhumps, people use it as a racetrack I feel like a sitting duck

Re the A666, Salford Council do seem to have a reluctance to make cycle lanes with an unbroken white line. Which makes one wonder why they go to the trouble of the painting the tarmac a different colour on a number of roads.

 

[skudupnorth]

Bolton is aweful from a cycling point of view, red light jumping motorists, speeding and general don’t give a damn about anyone else is the norm ! I use the busway from the outskirts of Tyldesley and join the Roe Green loop up to Anchor Road off Highfield Road and ride along Plodder Lane car park
Even that short bit of road riding highlights the idiots who do not care in their tin box prisons !
The loop line is getting slushy now but at least it covers the glass at the Bolton end ! Once you are nearing Walkden you must get a better class of Yoof who don’t trash the route as much