A long-planned scheme to link Steeton and Silsden by creating a pedestrian crossing over a busy road will have to be delivered in phases, as it is now expected to cost over £24 million.
Plans for a crossing over the A629 near Steeton & Silsden railway station date back over 12 years, and during this period the estimated costs have spiralled.
At a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority on Thursday members will be told that the scheme will progress, but will have to be split into two phases – as there isn’t enough money to pay for the entire scheme.
Phase 1 will include a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A629, a “toucan” crossing at the A6034 and pedestrian and cycle paths. It is expected to cost £12,920,060.
Funding will come from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – Government cash awarded to West Yorkshire as part of the area’s devolution deal.
But Phase 2, which will include an additional one and a half miles of pedestrian and cycle paths between the two villages and more road crossings, will not be delivered until more funding is made available. That unfunded phase will cost a further £11m.
At Thursday’s meeting, WYCA will be asked to approve the progression of the scheme to a business case.
If it goes ahead, work is expected to start on the site in April 2026 and be completed by April 2027.
The report says: “The scheme aims to address a significant issue of community severance between the settlements of Steeton and Silsden in Bradford, caused by the A629 dual carriageway, which features very high daily traffic flows and a 70mph speed limit.
“The more ambitious option is to provide a pedestrian and cycle bridge with complementary walking and cycling connectivity improvements along key routes in Steeton and Silsden. However the current available funding is insufficient to deliver the whole scheme, so the preferred option is to deliver the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A629 and an associated pedestrian and cycle crossing on the A6034. The wider connectivity improvements in the more ambitious option would be brought forward as a second phase of the scheme when further funding can be secured.”
A statement from the ward’s three Green Councillors said: “Local residents have been promised this bridge for a long time now and Green councillors have been pushing both Bradford Council and the Combined Authority for action and updates.
“Unfortunately, there is still a distinct lack of detail of the bridge design and how this will connect with existing pedestrian and cycling routes.
“It is really important for members of the public, and their local representatives, to be involved in the consultation process to make sure the design works for the local community.
“While we welcome this news, we note that the Combined Authority are still not committing to fund the second phase, which is for improvements to the wider pedestrian and cycling connections.”
Robbie Moore MP told us: “Over £24 million! - Bradford Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority must be having a laugh - I thought this was a joke when I first read it! How on earth a relatively simple project can in the space of 4 years increase from £3.6 million to over £24 million is beyond me. And not only that - we now have no competition date for the whole project.
“No wonder our Labour-run Council is going bust at our expense if they think it is perfectly acceptable to sign off and oversee such spiralling costs. It is clear that they are incapable of managing any regeneration or improvement project.
”I can only assume that they are pricing the scheme that high, that it can be an excuse for them not to deliver it.
“All we want is a safe crossing over an exceptionally busy dual carriageway - before someone gets killed. It seems to me that heads need banging together.”
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