Green light for huge road transformation project
WORKS TO improve a main route through Brighouse will move to the next stage, after one councillor called it a “key scheme” for the region.
At a meeting councillors from across West Yorkshire agreed to provide funding to help the A641 Bradford/Huddersfield Corridor scheme progress.
The major infrastructure project, which could cost as much as £95 million, will see junction improvements, a new cycle greenway between Wyke and Brighouse and new road links created in and around Brighouse.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will provide up to £75 million of the funding for the scheme, moved the scheme to the next stage at a meeting of its Investment Committee.
Members voted to provide £1.335 million to move forwards with an outline business case for the scheme.
One member said she was happy the scheme had moved beyond the original planned road improvements to include better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.
A report to the committee said around 38,000 vehicles use the corridor each day, and it has a “pivotal role to play in facilitating the economic growth aspirations of Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford.”
It says the route is currently
“car dominated” and unattractive to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as having poor air quality.
Members were told the work would help unlock new potential housing and employment sites along the route.
The scheme is not expected to be completed until 2025.
At yesterday’s meeting, Calderdale councillor Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddendenfoot) said: “The A641 is an important corridor for a number of authorities – Kirklees, Bradford and Calderdale. This is a scheme that is really crucial.
“It has evolved in terms of walking and pedestrian access, about making these places more human scale. It covers a lot of issues and is a high value for money scheme. It is important for Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale, it is a key arterial scheme for the area.”
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