Deansgate is one of those perennial Mancunian talking points.<br /><br />It looks very different to a decade ago, and will probably be unrecognisable in another 10 years if Manchester council plans to get more people cycling and walking come to fruition.<br /><br />The latest project — to make the thoroughfare one-way and build a new bike lane outside Great Northern Warehouse — began last August, and was completed at Easter.<br /><br />It was controversial.<br /><br />Queues on Deansgate around Christmas had motorists, taxi drivers, and business owners up in arms. But cyclists said it became a ‘much nicer place to be’ because it’s ‘quieter and calmer’.<br /><br />Now the new infrastructure is a few months old, I cycled the length of Deansgate on a blazing hot lunchtime this week to see if it’s an improvement.
