Town centre shake-up will see cycle-only roads
COUNCIL TO BUILD ON CYCLING UPTAKE DURING LOCKDOWN
A NUMBER of well used roads around Huddersfield and North Kirklees are set to be turned over solely to cyclists as Kirklees Council chiefs use the coronavirus crisis to “completely rethink the way towns work”.
The council says it is making “immediate changes” to streets around Huddersfield town centre and Dewsbury to improve conditions for people on pedal bikes and pedestrians.
The radical changes are being paid for using some of the government’s £2bn Active Travel fund.
The news has come as a surprise to councillors and the public, with Clr Aleks Lukic commenting: “I didn’t have any advance notice or consultation on these measures.”
The plan will see vehicles banned from some popular routes both in and around the shopping and business district of Huddersfield, including: Firth Street between Wakefield Road and Colne Road, Cross Church Street, Church Street, Wood Street, Byram Street, Market Place.
Meanwhile Northumberland Street between Lord Street and John William Street will become one-way eastbound to allow cycles to travel eastbound.
John William Street will be narrowed to one lane and parking bays will be coned-off temporarily to provide parking for disabled drivers and taxis.
New cycle lanes will be introduced at St Johns Road in both directions from Fitzwilliam Street to the Ring
Road. There will also be a new cycle lane at Colne Road along the southern section of gyratory.
The council has also revealed plans to launch e-scooter rental service based at St George’s Square.
In Dewsbury town centre these changes are planned:
A temporary trial conversion of Dewsbury Ring Road to make the nearside lane between A635 Leeds Road and A638 Bradford Road/ Northgate for cyclists only. Halifax Road between Northgate and Dewsbury Ring Road will also be closed to motor vehicles. Long Causeway will also be closed to all traffic except buses between Dewsbury Ring Road and Town Hall Way to further improve access for cyclists and pedestrians. Councillor Shabir Pandor,
Leader of Kirklees Council said: “The coronavirus pandemic has been a terrible and difficult period but it has also taught us a lot.
“We have a real opportunity here to completely rethink the way our towns and villages work. With so many turning to active travel during these unprecedented times, I hope that something we take away from this is a renewed focus on supporting people to walk and cycle.
“If we are to do this, we need to think about barriers that might be standing in the way. We need to build on the appetite people have shown for cycling, running and walking by immediately addressing some of these barriers.
“That’s what these first round of changes aim to do but this is the very beginning, I urge you to stay tuned for the engagement soon to launch on this so you can help us get this right.”
Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet Member for Greener Kirklees, said: “We’ve seen such a huge increase in the amount of people cycling, walking and running in recent months and we want to continue to encourage this.
“Active travel has huge benefits on both the health of individuals but also the environment and we have seen air pollution drop during the lockdown period.
“Our Huddersfield and Dewsbury Blueprint regeneration plans have greener forms of travel running right through them. This is further supported by our commitments to tackle the Climate Emergency and to make Kirklees completely carbon neutral by 2038.”