The publicised aims of the Bradford-Shipley road scheme are to ‘green’ Manningham Lane, introduce a 20 mph speed limit there, add bicycle lanes to encourage a move from the car, move traffic to Canal Road and Valley Road, and reduce congestion.
However, the scheme’s original aim in 2012 was to create economic growth through inward investment, by increasing the capacity of the road system. This aim is still there, though relegated to appendices in more recent reports going to Councillors and public consultation. More traffic along Canal and Valley Roads will add further pressure to the existing bottleneck at Shipley, threatening to increase rather than decrease congestion and pushing up already extreme pollution levels recorded along the road. So, just what ARE the aims of this scheme?
The Bradford Shipley Travel Alliance will be repeating a request to West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Bradford Council to be explicit about the scheme’s aims, and to provide a Benefits Realisation Plan which is required but has not yet been seen.
The conflicting aims and lack of key evidence are identified in points j to s in https://www.shipleylabour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2020/11/Shipley-CLP-road-scheme-report-approved-6-Nov-2020-Appendices.pdf.
