Road Clippings Apr - Jun 2000Road Clippings Apr - Jun 2000Put it into print (Letters, Aire Valley Target, June 1, 2000)
Wrong road to go down (Letters, Aire Valley Target, June 1, 2000)
The road to salvation? (T&A May 29, 2000)
Flawed argument (Letters, T&A, May 26, 2000)
Row over relief road shake-up (T&A, May 11, 2000)
Caught in the waiting game (T&A, May 10, 2000)
T&A, May 11, 2000
A row has broken out between Bingley's Tories and Labour MP Chris Leslie over the most radical transport shake-up of the town for decades.
He has accused councillors Robin Owens and Colin Gill of churlishness and petulance in failing to support his campaign for hundreds of thousands of pounds to be spent on improving the town's infrastructure when the Bingley relief road is built.
They sent a letter to the Telegraph & Argus questioning the strategy of the Aire Valley Public Transport Commission which Mr Leslie founded and chairs.
An interim report has recommended transforming the derelict area in front of the railway station in Wellington Street by creating a modern bus/train interchange. But Coun Gill and Coun Owens have questioned the way members of the commission are selected. They have also demanded to know how the improvements would be funded.
Mr Leslie said he appointed the members who cover a spectrum of companies from First Bradford to Northern Spirit and Railtrack. He said the reason part of the meetings were closed to the public was because of commercial confidentiality, although it had published everything produced so far.
Councillor Latif Darr, a member of Bradford Council's executive for transportation and planning, said the Council had agreed that money raised from the sale of a Bingley car park to the Highways Agency for the relief road would be used to promote a scheme such as the proposed bus/rail interchange and improvements to Main Street.
As for the money needed for the scheme, he said it would come from a combination of sources including Government funds, the Highways Agency, Bradford Council and rail and bus companies.
T&A, May 10, 2000
BINGLEY IS a town in a state of flux. It is a town where everything happens and yet somehow nothing happens in quite the way it is supposed to.
Building a relief road took over 30 years of to-ing and fro-ing while more recently the planned £11m development of the Myrtle Walk shopping centre has lapsed into an impenetrable bog.
Permission was granted last year for the demolition of Mornington Road Methodist Church but the sound of the sledgehammer has yet to be heard.
The old fire station was supposed to be turned into a thriving, smart bistro but that too sits slowly decaying.
Even a small step such as creating a medium-sized car park in the town took several years to come to fruition.
But there are signs of change.
National pub chain J D Wetherspoons is pushing ahead with plans to open a new £850,000 pub in the town centre. Bingley also has a thriving Pub Watch scheme and a recently launched Shop Watch initiative designed to crack down on shoplifting.
Mark Holmes, managing director of an international textile company, is in no doubt about what Bingley needs in order to enable it to prosper again - the relief road.
Earlier this year he bought a home in the town - which holds plenty of memories for him as a local lad - but only because he was finally convinced the relief road would go ahead.
He said: "I believe the biggest problem in Bingley has been the Not In My Back Yard syndrome though the over 50s will castigate me for this.
"Travel and communication are so important today yet it can take hours to get into the place. I would not have moved back into the area without the assurance that it will go through.
"I saw the transformation of Tadcaster and for the economy of the town that bypass is absolutely paramount.
"As a businessman my warehouse is just off the motorway network in Leeds and 85 per cent of my goods go abroad. If I had any sort of business in Bingley I would need transport links.
"I think for the regeneration of the town it will need those to give it back its rural charm by decreasing the volume of traffic.
"It will allow for more pedestrianisation. And, because Bingley is on the fringes of Bradford, the road will help to promote the Aire Valley and increase community spirit."
For Philip Smith though, the relief road has been a double-edged sword. Despite being a firm backer he has often despaired at the way in which he believes it has been used as an excuse for delaying all manner of projects in the town.
For example, a few months ago he was delighted to hear that a scheme he had pushed for over several years - work on Victorian-style lighting for the Main Street - was due to begin.
Yet almost immediately the plans were withdrawn - 'because of the road'. It would not make sense, the Highways Agency said, to put in the lighting when the future design of Main Street would be up for grabs following the building of the road.
Other schemes that never saw the light of day were improvements to Bingley Arts Centre and ideas for developing the St Ives estate, including a farm for children.
He also cites the Bingley Town Centre Partnership sponsored study of the town's Canal Corridor, published in 1998 but now covered in a large coat of dust.
But, he said: "The biggest problem in Bingley has been the traffic. The whole of the town is at risk from decay because of the car.
"One of the key things about the road is not just the pollution, it's the noise, you can't stop in the main street and have a conversation.
"Although people might want to try and curb the use of the car, people by nature want to stop and jump out and do their shopping.
"Pedestrianisation would kill the town. What we need to do is get the traffic off Main Street and create a pleasant shopping area that will attract people in once more."He added: "Bingley's other main problem is the Myrtle Walk precinct. If people visit the town and go in that precinct that's their first impression of the town. Bradford Council should make it their job to see that it is redeveloped.
"The other thing that needs to happen is for a bigger group of people to take an interest in the town centre because once this road has been finished there will be a design put together for the town centre and if people don't say what they want now they will be criticising the Council once it has been implemented.
"The overall feeling nowadays is more self centred, more selfish. People are concerned with their home life and their leisure. They use Bingley as a dormitory town and it has been used for many years.
"In Bingley if you look at the volume of population and compare it with the percentage of those who use the town centre it is very small.
"These people are less aware of their environment than in small communities such as Cullingworth and Silsden where you can rally people up who have a genuine interest."
On the bright side, he concluded: "I think the town has improved in the last 12 to 18 months with new shops opening and I am sure that that is down to the relief road going ahead.
"I think it is on the way up and is over the worst and we are definitely moving forward."
Bingley town centre manager David Disney added: "The decision by the Department of Transport to allow the long-awaited Bingley relief road scheme to go ahead has given a tremendous boost to the local economy.
"Moreover, the further announcement this February that the funding for the scheme was being brought forward to April of this year, has ended 30 years of uncertainty, will end the blight of traffic in Main Street and will allow the town to continue its regeneration process.
"Over the past couple of years we have seen considerable private investment in the town including Bingley Motors which invested £750,000 into the business.
"We have also welcomed inward investment from new traders to the town such as Clandestine, Opulence, Memphis Belles, Outer Limits, Village Flowers and many more.
"All this bodes well for the future of Bingley and we must now actively explore every possibility of ensuring that Main Street is given back to the town and that a vibrant centre is created allowing greater access to pedestrians, access to motorists with on-street parking where possible, at the same time making it difficult for through traffic to enter the town apart, of course, from public transport."
Andrew Robertshaw, a member of the Bingley Town Centre Partnership and proprietor of motorcyclist fashion wear shop Outer Limits in Main Street, said: "The road being built and the precinct are the two major priorities for the town as well as a definite plan for the former auction mart site.
"I would like to see houses being built there or it becoming an extension of the hi-tech corridor along the lines of Filtronic or Pace in Saltaire, but definitely not a retail development."
The last word goes to the town's Labour MP Chris Leslie, who chairs Bingley Town Centre Partnership.
"People can spend hours moaning and groaning but what we need to do is spend time productively, getting on with the job. The main things are sorting out the Myrtle Walk redevelopment, which has taken some time, but clearly Fordgate's intentions are to get on with it, and the road is progressing well - that's one good thing.
"An Interchange would be a big step forward for the town - at the moment the buses just stop in Wellington Street but there is no visible connection with the railway station. It would provide a gateway to the town."
Letters, T&A, May 26, 2000
SIR - We have been frequently told that road improvement schemes in the Aire Valley will revitalise struggling business activity and bring jobs to rundown areas of Bradford and Keighley.
That is an article of faith among road lobbyists, meat and drink to planners and, in spite of the huge costs, the idea has looked plausible enough to some local businesses.
Unfortunately, it is a flawed argument. There is no consistent evidence that new roads bring jobs to rundown areas, according to a government advisory group SACTRA (the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment).
In fact, the report finds that new roads can have the opposite effect. Local firms exposed to greater outside competition may find orders and jobs slip away.
Regeneration schemes in Airedale are thus likely to be undermined by the very schemes we've been told will promote them, SACTRA advises that councils planning new roads should have to demonstrate they will bring the intended economic benefits.
Is this another test that the Bingley Relief Road will fail? Like the environmental impact assessment the Council refuses to conduct.
David Batemen, Hospital Road, Riddlesden
T&A, May 29, 2000
The impact of the Bingley Relief Road on neighbouring Shipley cannot be known until the multi-million pound highway actually opens. But discuss the issue with Bradtford Council's first-ever Green Party councillor and the talk is of a looming "disaster" for Shipley.
Meanwhile a transport expert is predicting the bypass will have a negative effect on Shipley by increasing the volume of traffic passing through the town.
The district's MP, on the other hand - one of the road's staunchest supporters - predicts that the long-awaited bypass will actually benefit the town by improving traffic flows and reducing rat-running through residential areas.
The Highways Agency has commissioned a survey, carried out by Bradford Council, to look at the road's possible impact further down the Aire Valley.
And the Council says its officers will be working with the Highways Agency to examine ways of managing future travel along the Aire Valley corridor.
David Ford, the newly-elected Green councillor for Shipley West, said he feared the relief road would encourage more drivers to travel along the Aire Valley and shift the traffic bottleneck from Bingley and down the Aire Valley to Shipley and Saltaire.
He said: "In short it will have a disastrous impact on the Shipley area.
"Every time a new road is built more cars and heavy goods vehicles use it and when this road is built it will create more traffic which will cause congestion and pollution.
"Some people from further up the Aire Valley who currently use public transport may decide that if there's easier access to Bradford and Leeds a car is now more convenient.
"The problems that Bingley now has will just be funnelled down the valley along to Shipley and Saltaire. More traffic will use the A650 and Saltaire Road through Shipley and at every point where there's a problem with jams at the moment the situation will get worse, for example at The Branch turn-off.
"One of the main blackspots is likely to be Saltaire roundabout - it's already extremely busy and the situation can only get worse unless something's done to improve things.
"I also think a lot of drivers will try and escape from the main road by coming off on side roads in the Nab Wood area, creating even more rat-running."
Coun Ford said he thought new industrial and retail developments could also spring up alongside the relief road, encouraging more freight traffic to use it.
"That could also have economic effects by hitting trade in Shipley and Bingley town centres."
He added: "I'll continue to push for solutions such as investment in bus routes to get people out of their cars and traffic calming in places such as Nab Wood to stop ratrunning."
Some of Coun Ford's concerns are echoed by Tom Sansom, a senior research fellow with the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds.
"The general consensus among people in transport planning is that new roads generate more traffic.
"The experience in the USA is that if you try and build your way out of congestion by constructing new roads they just fill up as well.
"New roads save time which can attract people who would otherwise use public transport instead.
'A new higher speed road can also bring faster traffic into a local community - when people come off a bypass, on which they may have been travelling at up to 70 mph, they often tend to continue driving quite quickly.
"The bypass will bring enormous benefits to Bingley town centre but the Shipley area is already pretty badly congested and extra traffic would just add to that."
Mr Sansom said he envisaged the traffic blackspots in Shipley to occur at places such as Saltaire roundabout, Fox Corner and Otley Road's junctions with the A650 Bradford Road and the A6037 Valley Road. "Even five per cent more traffic at a junction that's already bad can make things disproportionately worse," he said.
He said there would be positive benefits such as a decrease in rat-running across moorland routes, and added there were measures that could counter the negative effects.
He said: "In the medium term it's a question of improving bus and rail services to make public transport more attractive. "The question of faster traffic can be addressed by a high level of enforcement by the police and traffic calming on some of the residential streets off the main road in Shipley
"The new bus lanes will definitely help but there's potential for them to be extended even further.
"In the longer term it's a question of aiming for continental standards in public transport on both road and rail with very high levels of service and frequency, high quality vehicles and rolling stock and improved stations and information for customers." Concerns have also been raised by Councillor Tony Miller (Lab, Shipley East), chairman of the councl's Shipley Community Area Panel.
He said: "I am pleased for Bingley but bypasses can cause bottlenecks where they finish and the road goes down from say two lanes to one. For the Bingley Relief Road that will be the Shipley and Saltaire area so that is something that needs addressing."
But Shipley's MP Chris Leslie - a staunch supporter of the road - believes it will bring benefits for Shipley as well as Bingley
He said: "I think there will be quite significant beneficial effects for Shipley. At the moment Keighley bound traffic, for example, can queue all the way back along the A650 through Nab Wood and past Saltaire roundabout and Gordon Terrace and that's caused by the bottleneck in Bingley
"A lot of drivers get frustrated and look for ways to get past the queues causing rat-running.
"I'm not convinced there will be a great traffic generation because no new destinations are being created by the relief road and by removing the bottleneck at Bingley it will reduce the queuing and take people off the rat-runs."
Mr Leslie said the recent introduction of bus lanes on the A650 would also improve traffic flows but added that the situation needed to be closely monitored.
Coun Phil Thornton (Lab, Shipley East) said: "I support the introduction of the relief road but we do need to be looking at measures to make sure there's no detrimental effect on Shipley
"I do have concerns that there could be a funnelling effect on traffic entering and leaving the relief road at Cottingley Bar.
"We need to address those concerns because it's no good having a bypass if it's going to create congestion elsewhere and just move the problem.
"The council has carried out a detailed survey on behalf of the Department of Transport to assess the impact the new road will have along the corridor from Cottingley Bar. I'm confident the council's picked up on all the issues that need to be looked at and hope the Department of Transport will address them.
"There should be benefits for Shipley in the form of road safety and traffic management improvements. New roads generate traffic so there will probably be more traffic using the main roads through Shipley "If the volume of traffic does rise that will increase the congestion unless something is done to ease it and that could have a damaging effect on the business community and residential amenities. "But there may be some positives as well, for example as a result of having more people travelling through the area it may bring more people into Shipley itself."
Letters, Aire Valley Target, June 1, 2000
SIR- Comparisons made by MrsBarlow (Target, May 11) between the planned Bingley 'relief' road and the devastation over Twyford Down caused by the M3 are valid. The "relief" road would increase air and noise pollution for most people in Bingley because the total traffic flow through the town would rise considerably and the traffic brought closer to residential areas than it is at present.
The current advance works also give us a small foretaste of other harmful effects of the 'relief' road. The destruction of a swathe of trees at Dowley Gap indicates what an eyesore the road would be. The threats to the rare species in the South Bog are now evident due to the extensive work being carried out there. We can also begin to imagine the devastating effects of the road upon the canal and the towpath due to the traffic noise and harm to the scenery.
This damaging project was conceived 20 years ago when there was less appreciation of the connection between unsustainable traffic growth and the wider issues of the environment and the quality of life. It is now outdated and we are finding that there are many people, like Mrs Barlow, who are seriously questioning it.
Richard Butler, chairman, Bingley Environmental Transport Association, Villa Road, Bingley, BD16 4EU.
Letters, Aire Valley Target, June 1, 2000
SIR - re: Transport in Bingley - "Cronies Committee Row" (Target, May 18).
We cannot comment on the proposals contained within the 'interim report' from the Aire Valley Public Transport Commission as we have not seen a copy. Mr Plumbe in his letter to the Target (May 18) refers to 'spin' from which I assume that Mr Plumbe has not seen a copy of the interim report either. If Christopher Leslie really wants co-operation and discussion on the contents of the report perhaps he could publish the report together with the names of the authors.
Robin E Owens, Conservative Councillor Bingley, Moor Edge, Harden.