The Metro is considering putting Leigh forward for a new pilot green transport scheme being bank rolled by the Government.
A successful bid could see:
* HUGE new funding for dedicated cycle routes to key destinations and employers.
* A MAJOR major pushbike training programmes for adults aswell as children.
* MASSIVE marketing to get more of us to get one our bikes.
Town hall chiefs will find out if they have secured the status later this year.
Independent national body Cycling England have been awarded more than £150m from the Departments for Transport and Health over the next three years to get "more people cycling, more safely, more often."
And Coun director of environmental services Martin Kimber says that the Metro have chosen to put Leigh forward (along with the Greenheart Regional Park area) because the scheme would do the most good there.
Leigh would be the focus of the main programme along with some links to the National Cycle Network through "large areas" of traffic free open space.
It was chosen for the bid , he admits, because large parts of the workforce "look inward" for jobs because of "poor public transport" to surrounding major towns and Manchester city centre.
Since Leigh lost it's rail link - it's 80,000 population are one of the biggest connurbations no longer train connected - there's no direct access to major public transport links so residents have to make use of interchanges which are within "easy" cycling distance.
More than 60 per cent of Leigh workers live less than five kilometres from their companies.
The canals (and their towpath) bisect the town centre east to west and the terrain is refreshingly flat.
A successful bid could be worth more than £800,000 a year Government grant in funding for cycling projects while Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Primary Care Trust could also provide some cash support. Particularly as the now fast emerging Sports Village complex is already being seen as a catalyst for a "healthier and more active" town.
Mr Kimber said: "If Leigh is successful with the bid we would expect cycling to be a sustained high profile mode of transport aswell as a preferred leisure pursuit in the town and the Greenheart Regional Park.
"This would give benefits like relieving congestion, improving air quality and also improving health and activity levels across the borough."