Manchester City's Etihad campus is set to become part of a new Greater Manchester walkways project that runs from the stadium area to Piccadilly station. The route takes in Ashton Canal, New Islington and Holt Town, and sits inside a £100m CyanLines plan that is designed as a 100-mile (161km) network over the next decade.

The Etihad route and the wider network

The route is the most specific piece of the announcement. A walk from the Etihad campus to Piccadilly is easy to picture on a map, and the route through Ashton Canal, New Islington and Holt Town gives the scheme a clear city-centre spine.

Bev Craig, the Greater Manchester mayor, said: "It's not just about travel, the whole point of CyanLines is 100 miles of nature connected together, and yes it's about how you move, cycle and walk, but it's something more fundamental."

The £100m commitment is the scale marker here, and the plan is larger than one corridor. Two further CyanLines routes are in development in Newton Heath and Rusholme, while the Castlefield Viaduct project is also set for expansion.

City’s role in the scheme

Pete Bradshaw, Manchester City’s director of sustainability, said: "The plans for the CyanLines route add a new layer of nature-rich, innovative and imaginative active travel and community experiences for fans, visitors and those living and working in the neighbourhood."

The club’s involvement gives the project extra visibility, but the story is still about place and access rather than football. City were second in the 2025 Premier League with 78 points, and eighth in the 2025 UEFA Champions League league phase with 16 points, which underlines the scale of the club behind the Etihad area without turning this into an on-pitch story.

Hilary McGrady, director-general at the National Trust, said Bupa’s funding will help extend the Castlefield Viaduct sky park project in Manchester, meaning more people will experience and benefit from the green space in the city centre. The next phase of that project will expand it to the full 330-metre length of the Victorian-era structure.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →