Work on track to speed up journey to hospital

3km (1.8 miles) have been screwed into the land to secure the remaining hillside.

The new cutting will then be planted up to create a vertical garden which will also help to improve the air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

The project has been causing huge traffic jams but Calderdale Council has vowed it will be worth it in the end – with six minutes shaved off the journey time from the motorway to Halifax town centre.

The next phase of work is to improve access around the hospital, creating a slip lane from the A629 to reduce queues and to manage traffic flow better, particularly if there are problems on the M62.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member responsible, Clr Barry Collins, said: “This scheme is a major undertaking which, as part of the wider improvements to the A629, will bring significant and lasting economic benefits to Calderdale.

“Our projections estimate that traffic using the A629 will increase by 18% over the next decade and without these improvements the road would be gridlocked for much of the day.

“These works will reduce car journey times from Huddersfield to Halifax by up to 30% and for buses by up to 50%.

“By improving these links between the M62 and Halifax town centre, from 20 minutes to around 14 minutes, it will become a very attractive place to do business.”

Clr Keith Wakefield, chairman of West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “Undertaking large-scale schemes like this, designed to speed up journeys and combat the economic and environmental costs of congestion, is exactly why we used the Leeds City Region Growth Deal, to set up the £1bn West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund.

“I am pleased that through this work at Salterhebble Hill, we will be improving journeys between Halifax and Huddersfield and also using the opportunity to plant this vertical garden to absorb carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and improve local air quality.”