Keighley & Ilkley MP Robbie Moore will meet with Transport Ministers to discuss bringing the spiralling costs of the long-awaited pedestrian bridge between Silsden and Steeton under control.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Moore criticised local authorities’ latest cost projection of £24 million for the scheme, describing both the price tag as “ridiculous” and likening the the proposed design to a “bizarre Scalextric track”
The bridge, intended to provide a safe crossing over the busy dual carriageway between Silsden and Steeton, has been in development for more than a decade.
Despite repeated assurances, construction has yet to begin and completion is now not expected until 2027.
During Transport Questions, Mr Moore told the House:
“The latest cost projection by Labour-run Bradford Council for building a pedestrian bridge between Silsden and Steeton over a busy dual carriageway is now a whopping £24 million, and the proposed design looks like some bizarre Scalextric track. Will the Secretary of State meet me to get those ridiculous cost projections under control?”
In response, Secretary of State Heidi Alexander confirmed she would ask the Local Transport Minister to meet Mr Moore to discuss the project further.
The intervention follows years of frustration over delays and escalating costs. In 2016, West Yorkshire Combined Authority was awarded £700,000 by the Government to carry out a feasibility study. The study took four years to complete and concluded simply that a bridge was required. Initial cost estimates of £3.6 million later rose to £10.3 million by 2022. Local authorities are now citing a total scheme cost of £24 million once associated cycle routes, paths and crossings are included.
Mr Moore has repeatedly warned that continued delay puts lives at risk, with residents forced to cross the dual carriageway daily without safe infrastructure, despite funding having already been allocated for the project.
Commenting , Robbie Moore MP said:
“This is all getting ridiculous. We are now talking about 11 years to deliver a simple pedestrian bridge. For reference, the Prince of Wales Bridge, the second longest bridge in the UK, took just 6 and a half years to plan and build.
Local Labour-run authorities were given money in 2016 just to work out whether a bridge was needed. It took four years to confirm what everyone already knew, and since then the cost has spiralled from around £3 million to a staggering £24 million.
I welcome the offer of a ministerial meeting and will be making it absolutely clear that this project needs to be delivered without any further delay. It should not be this hard to build a bridge.”
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