Respond this week to WYCA’s road proposals between Bradford and Shipley

What an unfortunate time for consultation on major road proposals for Bradford-Shipley! We issued guidance two weeks ago, encouraging you to respond to the WYCA Survey despite the short summer period it is open. All responses must be made by the end of this Sunday 18th August.

We think that some points must be underlined, in favour of the safety and health gains from less motor traffic and more support for bus, cycle and walking. There are powerful voices against change. We wish to support the best proposals and warn against proposals that may be harmful in Manningham, Frizinghall, and the bottleneck of Shipley. Every comment will be counted. You can also respond with an email (see below).

So please complete the WYCA survey questionnaire, making good use of the space for comments after the following three headings:

“Do you have any comments you’d like to tell us about the plans for these side roads?”

“If you wish to tell us why you do, or do not, like these general ideas for improvements, you can use the box below.”

“And finally, if there is anything else you’d like to tell us about these proposals, you can use the box below.”

We suggest you include the following comments if you agree with them. The more people who mention each priority, the more likely that the Council will be able to act on the comment, and weigh it against other comments that they receive.

  • I support discouragement of more traffic. This is an aim of WYCA’s own climate policy.
  • I support easier walking cycling bussing and safer streets.
  • Will a benefit be reduced motor traffic overall? I am concerned that widening Canal Road and stopping up some side roads may give extra capacity to the main road, attracting more traffic. Please ensure that the proposals result in less traffic.
  • Why is heavy goods traffic travelling through Bradford to the northwest not diverted to the motorway system?
  • The improved cycling routes must be joined up with existing routes?
  • How will the Carlisle/Marlborough/Lumb Lane road stretches cope with the diverted extra traffic?
  • Please publish the traffic and emissions forecasts showing that there will definitely be less traffic overall.
  • How will delivery vans to disabled residents of Manningham Lane and nearby manage to turn and deliver?
  • The widening of Canal Road at Midland Terrace will make access more difficult for residents, and crucially attract more traffic to the system, which is not healthy.

You can in addition write your comments in an email to yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk or by mail to Freepost, CONSULTATION TEAM WYCA, Wellington House, 40-50 Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 2DE

For the other questions in the questionnaire we suggest you respond according to your views on each proposal. We have given guidance here if you wish to refer to it. Note that after Q5, the question numbers change according to how many roads you say that you use.

Guidance on consultation questionnaire

Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance has advised its affiliated organisations and individuals to respond to WYCA’s questionnaire consultation on road schemes between Bradford and Shipley. The guidance is reproduced below. You may also write comments and concerns unconstrained by the questionnaire in an email to yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk or by mail to Freepost, CONSULTATION TEAM WYCA, Wellington House, 40-50 Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 2DE.

Bradford-Shipley Road Improvement Scheme – Questionnaire consultation

We are asking you to complete the consultation questionnaire [bsta.us7.list-manage.com] issued by West Yorkshire Combined Authority about proposed changes to the road system between Bradford and Shipley.


Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance was launched in 2021 to represent the concern from residents about road proposals. In particular, the dangerous health and climate impacts of increasing traffic across Manningham and Frizinghall and adding to the bottleneck of Shipley. The proposal then was for dual carriageway all along Canal Road, Valley Road and Otley Road.


Your concerns were influential. The Council decided to go back to the drawing board and take into account policies on improving air quality and encouraging a shift away from the motor car. The new proposal is better, but leaves many unanswered questions:


Will a benefit be reduced motor traffic overall? Why is heavy goods traffic travelling through Bradford to the northwest not diverted to the motorway system? Which road stop-ups and one-way systems make for safer communities or simply make the main roads faster? Will the improved stretches of cycling and walking be joined up? How will the Carlisle/Marlborough/Lumb Lane road stretches cope with the diverted extra traffic? Where are the numbers to justify the claims made for the proposals?


If residents’ health and tackling carbon emissions are your priorities, we ask you to respond to the consultation questionnaire and raise these points. Only then will Councillors hear your concerns and ensure that the scheme is further improved.


With this in mind, the rest of this document gives guidance on the questionnaire, you may of course have differing views on some elements, but we hope this will help you make response you are happy with.
When completing the questionnaire, think about your own experience and try to use your own words.
Guidance on the Bradford-Shipley roads consultation questionnaire
Take the survey here: https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/bradfordshipley [bsta.us7.list-manage.com]


Qs 1-4 Introduction
BSTA Guidance: Complete according to your usage of any of the roads between Bradford and Shipley.
Side Road Proposals
Q5. Do you live, visit or travel along any of the roads we are proposing to stop up or make one-way?  Please tick all that apply
BSTA Guidance: These are the side roads that will be blocked or made one-way. Choose all of the roads you use, even if only occasionally. The questionnaire will then ask you about each of them. The map that shows the proposed changes is here [bsta.us7.list-manage.com] (do not be put off by the title that is mistakenly about Huddersfield canals!).


 [Note: the question numbers from here will differ, depending on how many side roads you ticked in Q5]
Q6 For each road you have said you use; you will then be asked to ‘Support’ or ‘Oppose’ the change.
BSTA guidance: Below, for Comments section that comes at the end of the questions about each road, we have given reasons to support these changes to side roads. However, in some cases the change may cause greater flow on the main road and may have a specific local effect without other benefits. You know the area and should answer accordingly.
 
Q7 Do you have any comments you’d like to tell us about the plans for these side roads? 
BSTA Guidance: Stopping-up some side roads on this route should help make walking safer and more appealing by creating longer stretches of continuous pavement with a reduced number of junctions for pedestrians to cross. Those travelling by foot will no longer need to cross multiple side roads when walking, for example, their children to school. 
Closed side roads so that they no longer have two-way traffic on them (effectively becoming cul-de-sacs) should make it safer for residents to move around on their streets and provide safer areas for children to walk and play.
Closing some side roads should also help with cycle safety once the new cycleways are in place. Fewer junctions will mean a longer continuous cycleway with fewer opportunities for negative cycle/motor vehicle interactions when motorists drive in and out of a side road. This should greatly improve cycle safety.
 
Q8. In general, how much do you support the principle of one-way / stopped up side roads off Manningham Lane / Bradford Road? 
 
BSTA Guidance: Support
 
Q9 We wish to make Manningham Lane a bit less car dominated and improve the reliability of buses. But making sure you can still visit businesses along the route easily.  
This means you would no longer be able to travel north from Spring Bank Place to Queens Road in a private vehicle. You would still be able to access businesses along Manningham Lane. 
Do you support or oppose adding a Bus Gate on Manningham Lane? 
 
BSTA Guidance: Support
 
Q10. We are planning reduce congestion along Queens Road to Manningham Lane, improve air quality and road safety. 
To do this, we wish to implement a no right turn restriction, so you wouldn’t be able to turn right from Queens Road onto Manningham Lane. 
How much do you support or oppose this no right turn proposal?  
 
BSTA Guidance: Support
 
Q11. In the previous consultation, you told us you were concerned about air quality.  
Do you feel our proposals would improve air quality in this area?  
 
BSTA Guidance: Yes
 
Q12. The A6037 Canal Road and the A6038 Otley Road are strategic roads for people travelling across the district. 
How much do you support the following proposals to improve and/ or widen these roads and junctions?  
Add a new lane northbound on Canal Road between Queens Road and Stanley Road in the existing highway 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly oppose
Improved access to Frizinghall Rail Station from Canal Road 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Widen Otley Road / Valley Road Junction to improve congestion 
 
BSTA Guidance: Oppose
 
Widen Otley Road / Keighley Road Junction to improve congestion 
BSTA Guidance: Oppose
 
Section Four 
More general proposals 
We also wish to make improvements more generally. 
The following proposals don’t have a specific place in mind right now.  
But we’d like to know if you’d support the following ideas in principle:  
 
Q13. Additional length / upgraded segregated cycleway 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q14. Cycling crossing improvements 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q15. Pedestrian crossing improvements 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
Q16. Make the area a safer, more attractive place to walk and cycle 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q17. Planting / landscaping improvements 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q18. More bus lanes to improve bus journey times and reliability 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q19. Bus lanes operating longer to improve bus journey times and reliability earlier and later 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q20. Improved bus stop locations 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
Q21. Enforcement against unlawful parking – to improve journey times, and improve road safety, walking and cycling 
 
BSTA Guidance: Strongly Support
 
 
 
Q22. If you wish to tell us why you do, or do not, like these general ideas for improvements, you can use the box below: 
 
BSTA Guidance:
There is much to support within the above listed general improvements.
Additional protected cycle lanes will make it easier and safer for people to cycle in the area. Encouraging more people to cycle in their community and replace car journeys with cycle journeys is good for health and good for reducing congestion, local air pollution and carbon emissions.
Improvements to pedestrian crossings will make it easier and safer for residents to walk in their community, for example to the shops or take their children to school on foot. Improvements to pedestrian crossings must however give adequate priority to pedestrians and cyclists, for example making the pedestrian/cycle phase as long as possible and consideration needs to be given to giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists rather than motorists.
Measures that make the area safer and more attractive to walk and cycle will encourage people to travel by foot or on bike in their community instead of by car. Again, this is good for health and good for reducing congestion, local air pollution and carbon emissions. This will also be positive for local businesses as residents are more likely to walk or cycle to the shops and spend more time in an area that has been made safer and more attractive for active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling). The same is the case for improving an area through planting and landscaping – this will again encourage people to spend time in the local area which is good for the community and good for local businesses.
Bus lanes that operate longer will help make bus travel quicker and more reliable. This will encourage more people to use the bus instead of their car and will reduce congestion, local air pollution and carbon emissions.
Well maintained, attractive bus stops located in user-friendly locations will help further encourage bus use.
Parking enforcement against unlawful parking is welcome. Unlawful parking can involve drivers parking on pavements, in bus lanes and on cycle paths. This makes walking more unpleasant, makes cycling more dangerous and slows buses down. Enforcement against unlawful parking will reduce these problems and encourage the uptake of walking and cycling as well as making these modes of travel safer.
 
 
Section Five 
Your thoughts on the full scheme  
Q23. Overall, how much do you support or oppose these proposals?  
 
BSTA Guidance: Support
 
Q24. And finally, if there is anything else you’d like to tell us about these proposals, you can use the box below:  
BSTA Guidance: The overall aims of the revised scheme are largely positive. The focus on bus and active travel is to be welcomed, as is the plan to make Manningham Lane/Keighley Road/Bradford Road into a reduced traffic, quieter neighbourhood area.
The decision to no longer widen long stretches of Canal Road and Valley Road is a very welcome change from the previous plan. There is however a concern that plans to create an extra lane on a stretch of Canal Road may induce additional traffic to use this road by creating additional vehicle capacity. This may lead to an increase in traffic that will negate some of the positive impacts of the scheme by causing additional air pollution and carbon emissions.  
The continued commitment to naturalising Bradford Beck is welcome.
Redirecting traffic from Manningham Lane onto Westgate/Carlisle/Rd/Marlborough Rd may have the effect of adding to congestion on these already busy roads. As these are largely residential areas this is a cause for concern.
Widening of junctions at Otley Rd/Valley Road and Keighley Rd/Otley Road risks inducing more motor vehicle traffic to use these junctions if the roads are widened to increase vehicle carrying capacity. This may increase congestion beyond the junctions and may worsen local air pollution and increase carbon emissions. However, if the junctions are widened to accommodate wider pavements and protected cycleways instead of additional vehicle carrying capacity this would be an improvement. Signalling upgrades that prioritised walking and cycling would also be welcomed.
The Otley Road/Valley Road junction is right next to Shipley CE Primary school. Any increase in road traffic here will result in increased air pollution which will have a negative effect on the developing lungs of children who attend this school. This would be a significant concern. There are a number of mature trees at the Otley Rd/Valley Road junction. It is not clear from the plans if these would need to be cut down to widen this junction. If so, this would be a cause for concern.
It is not clear how the walking proposals deliver a coherent network.
The cycleway extension to Frizinghall rail station along Stanley Road / Gaisby Lane is welcome, however there isn’t a corresponding protected cycleway running from Keighley Road down Frizinghall Road to the rail station to create a proper network.
It is noted that the project ends at Otley Rd junction at the Shipley end of the route rather than going on to Saltaire. It would make much more sense and would have much greater impact if the scheme continued to the Saltaire/Bingley Road shops so that there was a fully connected protected cycleway with improved footway joining the urban centres of Bradford and Saltaire. An active travel connection to Shipley centre is also missing.  Improved footways and protected cycleways into Shipley town centre down Otley Rd from Bradford Road towards Shipley town centre would connect the local residential areas off Bradford/Bingley/Keighley Road with the centre of Shipley. This would encourage cycle commuting for shopping/work/leisure as well as enhancing the walking experience between Shipley and nearby residential areas.
A HGV weight ban is not included in the proposals. A weight ban that resulted in the redirection of HGVs onto the motorway network would have significant benefits in reducing the high numbers of HGVs that use the Bradford-Shipley route.
 

Kind regards The Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance team

Public consultation at last! Bradford Shipley roads changes

The long-awaited proposals for changes to Valley Road/Canal Road and Manningham Lane/Keighley Road/Bradford Road are about to be published by West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

BSTA has alerted its almost 500 community residents and organisations from around Manningham, Frizinghall, Owlet and Shipley who have provided their contact details to be made aware of plans for the roads between Bradford and Shipley.

A public consultation is expected to start on Monday 22nd July and last four weeks. This is the height of the holiday period, and affected schools will not be able to be consulted. 

When we have had a chance to review the proposals, we will send you guidance on how to respond. We will be looking to protect the safety of local communities, improve air quality, and reduce the health and carbon impact of traffic through better alternatives – buses, bikes and walking.

It appears that the Council has listened to public concerns and dropped plans to turn Canal Road/Valley Road into a four lane highway. We await their formally published plan.

No more traffic, let us breathe

2024 is the year when Bradford Council reveals its revised traffic plans between Bradford and Shipley, through Bolton Woods, Manningham and Frizinghall.

The Travel Alliance will be ready to respond with the principles that you have supported:

  • No extra traffic overall: this is essential for our health, our safety, and to treat the climate crisis seriously. An increase in traffic will affect all of the area between Bradford and Shipley, will worsen the bottleneck of Shipley itself, and beyond along the Aire Valley.
  • Reduced pollution near every school affected by the road system between Bradford and Shipley. Children and older people’s health is affected most by the invisible pollution from motor traffic.

We had hoped to be involved in the plan, so that we could represent your ideas on reducing traffic levels with the planners, but the Council prefers to wait until it publishes a finished proposal. That will be later this year, with a short consultation period.

We will let you know as soon as the proposal is published, if you sign up for our occasional newsletter on this web page. Share this post to anyone else you think will want to know too. Ask them to email admin@bsta.org.uk so that we can keep in touch with them, or sign up here too.

Meanwhile we will continue speaking to people in all the areas affected.  We will do our best to ensure that health centres, community organisations and all residents know the dangers of more traffic.

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.