Bradford routes reclaimed for walking and cycling

Routes along Bingley Road have been blocked off to cars. Traffic is being counted again to see how well the measures are working (this counter is on Tower Road). Traffic will be measured again in March, when an online questionnaire will ask for residents’ opinions of the changes. The measures will then be adjusted to work as well as possible. These experiments will help make similar schemes work well in Shipley, Frizinghall and elsewhere in Bradford.

Encouraging cars to use the boundary roads around neighbourhoods by limiting cut-through routes is intended to make residential areas safer and healthier. The aim is to make them easier to walk and cycle in, and to reduce car traffic overall. In other parts of the UK, schemes have been controversial but successful, according to this review of London Active Travel Neighbourhoods.

Job to manage a new Shipley cycling centre

Monday Feb 6th is the deadline for you to apply for a job supporting cycling in and around Shipley. “The role within the hub will be to build and provide services and activities, with the purpose of increasing active travel (cycling, scooting, walking etc.) and community well-being.  These services will include cycling lessons, mechanics lessons, bike loans and help with bike repairs.  These could be provided via partners, sessional staff and/or yourself.” 16 hours a week, £16,000 a year.

More information at https://www.capitalofcycling.org/shipley-hub-role/

Score Councils on climate action

Want to learn more about what UK local authorities are doing to combat the climate and ecological crises? Want to help communities to get their council to take Climate Action seriously? Interested in gaining experience of local policy, initiatives and best practice?

Climate Emergency UK are recruiting for their second volunteer cohort to create the Council Climate Action Scorecards – the only UK-wide assessment of councils actual climate action. By creating the Action Scorecards you would be helping your community and other people around the UK understand how well councils are tackling the climate crisis, who’s doing well and what is possible. Find out more about the volunteering opportunities and apply before 16th February here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/application-scorecards-volunteering.  

Bradford to revise road plan in 2023

Last year we posted the press news that the Bradford-Shipley Road Improvement Scheme was to be revised, scrapping road-widening. We also posted our plans to continue to champion residents’ concerns in favour of action on climate and clean air. Below is the full statement from Bradford Council about their decision to revise the road plans, sent by the engineer in charge of the scheme in an email to all Bradford District Councillors on 3rd November 2022.

The statement is very welcome. While triggered by a reduced budget hit by inflation, it allows the Council “the opportunity to update the scheme objectives to include new and emerging policy”, which we think must include the climate and air quality policies that West Yorkshire Councils have adopted since the scheme was originally proposed.

Of great importance is the commitment to create new options in the form of an Outline Business Case, which must include further consultation on the shape of the scheme. The Travel Alliance has always argued for this. It is welcome that “the focus of the scheme will shift to bus and active travel improvements along the Manningham Lane Route”, and we will argue for frequent, fast and cheaper public transport to provide an attractive alternative to more car journeys. We don’t yet know what “localised measures to address congestion along the Canal Road Route and Otley Road”, may mean.

The Council’s aim to reduce carbon emissions demands less traffic overall, which would satisfy the aim of reduced congestion. How to reduce traffic overall is the big question. It demands national investment in alternatives as well as local schemes including the Active Travel Neighbourhoods that the Council has begun to introduce.

We have suggested to the Council that we discuss alternatives before waiting for their finished plan, to make best use of the thinking and consultation carried out by the Travel Alliance and our affiliates.

Here is the Council update:

Bradford Shipley Route Improvement Scheme Update

The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (CBMDC) in collaboration with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) are keen to provide the following update on the Bradford Shipley Route Improvement Scheme (BSRIS).

CBMDC have been working diligently to control scheme costs in the context of recent and ongoing extreme inflation, however the council are now unfortunately no longer in a position to deliver all the essential elements of the previous preferred option as identified within the 2019 Outline Business Case within the available funding.

The early acknowledgement of this has created the opportunity to update the scheme objectives to include new and emerging policy; and use this to identify updated options for consideration which build upon the earlier development.

From this, it is expected that the focus of the scheme will shift to bus and active travel improvements along the Manningham Lane Route with localised measures to address congestion along the Canal Road Route and Otley Road.

This message is being made available in conjunction with the formalised agreement between CBMDC and WYCA to undertake a refined Outline Business case which considers the new objectives and options.  Following this agreement CBMDC will develop the proposals and plans for consultation which is expected within Autumn 2023.

Celebrate with us!

Now that the plans to widen Canal and Valley Road have been scrapped, celebrate with us on December 1st  with a report on our consultation in Frizinghall from Street Space, and help us with our next steps.

Can you help us with our new priorities?

  1. Continue to build support in Frizinghall and Manningham for walking and cycling, with health as the main focus.
  2. Promote our alternatives to always using the car, including mass transit between Bradford and Keighley, and a workplace parking levy in Bradford centre.
  3. Continue to build a relationship with key Council officers, as they develop their ideas for a revised Bradford-Shipley road scheme focused on walking, cycling and bus travel.

We have plenty of ideas about how together we can make an impact for the benefit of all.  

Phillipa and Amal from Street Space will be drawing lessons from their work for the Travel Alliance in Frizinghall. The Street Space report is available to read before the meeting. They talked to residents and community organisers over the summer about the barriers to walking, cycling and bussing.

The meeting is at Tambourine Café, 7pm on Thursday 1st December. Refreshments provided. All welcome.