And now what? Consultation finished on Bradford-Shipley roads

The proposal and the consultation
The major Bradford-Shipley road scheme which sparked Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance into existence went back to the drawing board a year ago. This was a good thing for all those concerned about too much traffic on account of health and climate concerns.

New proposals had a rushed summer consultation in July 2024. BSTA moved to inform our now extensive mailing list and Bradford Council received a larger than expected response from around 1500 people.

Back to the drawing board again
BSTA were happy with the reduced role of widened roads but criticised the lack of evidence to support the proposals. This lack of evidence seems to have backfired on the Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), because it had nothing to counter the substantial opposition in the consultation to rerouting traffic away from Manningham Lane.

WYCA have therefore asked Bradford Council to work up new proposals again, which may go out for another consultation in 2025. We will keep you informed.

What next?
We are waiting for WYCA’s climate plan, expected very soon. We think it will be ambitious and require a major shift from individual road traffic to public transport, cycling and walking. It will clearly affect all road schemes and BSTA will provide recommendations so that new Bradford-Shipley proposals suit the climate aims and local people’s needs.

In any case, there is no longer assured money for the Bradford-Shipley road schemes. Higher inflation in the past 2 years has reduced the number of projects that the West Yorkshire Transport Fund can deliver. WYCA do have funding to see the Bradford-Shipley scheme through its Outline Plan (the current stage) and once that has been finalised and approved then it will pay for a Full Business Case to specify in great detail what is proposed. But the scheme will then, according to a report to Bradford Council’s Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee, go into the ‘pipeline’ of new projects awaiting other funding for delivery.
 
We wish all our readers a happy break at Christmas and New Year, and a 2025 that brings good news.

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