Region’s cycle routes set for £30m extension

CYCLE routes across West Yorkshire and York will be improved in a series of projects costing £30m.

The latest schemes are designed to build on the cycle “superhighway” known as CityConnect1 linking Bradford and Leeds which is already under construction.

Among the latest round of projects is an extension to the superhighway in Bradford to link the Forster Square rail station with Canal Road.

Other schemes include routes in Huddersfield town centre to separate cyclists from traffic and connecting the centre of Wakefield with Kirkgate rail station and the City Fields development. In York, the Scarborough Footbridge will be widened with improvements to the paths connecting the bridge on either side of the River Ouse.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), which brings together the five West Yorkshire councils and York, successfully bid for more than £20m from the Department for Transport to help fund the schemes.

WYCA transport committee chairman Coun James Lewis said: “Securing a further £20m plus from the Department for Transport means we can build on the success CityConnect1 and our vision to get more people cycling more often. CityConnect2 will deliver similarly ambitious schemes in the Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York districts, providing people with safe and convenient links to areas where we are supporting investment and jobs growth.”

The latest projects include canal towpath improvements which, connected to the cycle superhighway, will mean there is a continuous cycle route connecting Skipton, Keighley, Shipley, Bradford and Leeds.