Call for Government to pay for Flockton bypass

The people of Flockton demand, and deserve, nothing less than relief from the daily grind of traffic through their village.

Kirklees Council has proposed introducing a weight restriction prohibiting vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on several routes around Flockton including the A637 through the village.

Exceptions would include residents, delivery drivers, emergency services, utilities, and bin, road and farm workers.

Clr Armer described the increasing volume of traffic passing through Flockton on the A637 Barnsley Road as “horrendous.”

And whilst he was heartened by news of a move by Kirklees Council to prohibit HGVs from travelling through Flockton towards Barnsley and the M1, he said Wakefield Council was not prepared to follow suit from the opposite direction.

Traffic engineers with Wakefield Council are unwilling to divert HGVs from Flockton through other villages in the Wakefield district or to support an HGV ban claiming it would move the problem further back to Horbury Bridge.

That stance echoes Kirklees Council’s position, with senior figures including Clr Peter McBride claiming a bypass at Flockton would have a knockon effect on neighbouring areas including Kirkheaton, Waterloo and Bradley, and towards Cooper Bridge.

Clr McBride recently met with residents to listen to concerns.

“In calling for national funding I am mindful that Barnsley Road through Flockton is classified an ‘A’ route and is seen as an important link in the road network,” said Clr Armer.

“This of itself has inhibited the work that Highways can do in Flockton, and I believe it is right that government funding should be made available.

“The people of Flockton demand, and deserve, nothing less than relief from the daily grind of traffic through their village.

“My argument is that the present administration are not pushing the issue either regionally or nationally. They are not pushing it at all. They are just rolling over. They’re not doing anything.

“I would say that they have got a defeatist attitude. I don’t think they deliberately want to screw up Flockton but they’re not looking for any progress on it.”

Clr Armer said the most likely option to reduce traffic levels would be to build something in conjunction with the proposed North Kirklees Orbital Road, which may not start for more than 20 years.