Road Clippings July - Nov 2000

Some answers on the relief road (Aire Valley Target, November 2 2000)

Labour claim is just daft (Aire Valley Target, Nov 2, 2000)

`Fewer accidents' hope for the A650 (T&A, Sept 1, 2000)

Not so early.. (Letters, T&A, 1 Aug 2000)

`EARLY START' FOR BYPASS (T&A, July 21, 2000)

`EARLY START' FOR BYPASS

Work on Bingley's long-awaited relief road could start before Christmas following John Prescott's multi-billion pound transport spending announcement.

But the Deputy Prime Minister's announcement of £60 million for the road was today dismissed as "spin".

Deputy Tory leader in Bradford Coun Richard Wightman, (Cons, Rombalds) said: "We are glad that the road is to start construction at an early date but this has been no more than was promised in the past and, indeed, under the Conservative government's plans, the road would have been constructed by now.

"We hope that it will be constructed now without delay to the benefit of users of road services in the Bingley area and the Aire Valley generally."

In July 1998, the Telegraph & Argus reported that Mr Prescott had given the final go-ahead for the scheme after a 30-year campaign by local residents.

At the time, the Labour MP for Shipley, Chris Leslie, said: "This is marvellous, wonderful news - all the hard work persuading the Government has paid off."

Yesterday, he said: "This means cash is now available this financial year. The scheme is currently out to tender but now there are no financial obstacles we can get cracking straight away.

"Some people are concerned that it could just shunt the traffic problem down to Saltaire, but we've looked at that very carefully and we don't think it will.

"Most of the congestion in the evening peak is heading out of Bradford so it jams up not just in Bingley but all the way back to Saltaire, that's why there's a lot of rat-running through Nab Wood and Baildon.

"We actually reckon there will be great benefits all down the valley by relieving the congestion at Bingley."

Councillor Anne Hawksworth (Con, Ilkley), executive member for the environment, agreed that the news was excellent.

"I'm sure this news will come as a great relief to many of the residents in Airedale," she said, but added: "I hope the new money is real money and not spin money."

Earlier this year, the T&A revealed how the relief road's opening date had been brought forward to 2003/4.

Advanced works such as the sewer diversion, bridge and design work has already been done, but this cash means contractors can begin work sooner than anticipated - as early as Christmas.

But Friends of the Earth campaigner Tony Bosworth of Saltaire yesterday slammed John Prescott's transport programme, saying it would be damaging to the region's roads.

"This scheme is potentially damaging to Bradford. One hundred new bypasses are being built around the country and this is certainly going to affect the area," he said.

"We want to see cars being pushed out of Bradford city centre and more investment in public transport."

The Bingley announcement came amid Mr Prescott's £180 billion input for transport over the next 10 years, including £60 billion for railways, £59 billion for roads and almost £26 billion for local transport schemes.

And Bradford is bidding for cash to fund its city centre planned Integrated Transport Scheme - which would redevelop the city centre between Broadway, Cheapside, Petergate and Hall Ings and cost around £2,541,000 - is also earmarked for implementation.

The city also hopes to receive funding for a series of schemes including the completion of the Manchester Road Quality Bus Scheme, the new Keighley Bus Station and South Bradford Integrated Transport improvements - a package of measures including improvements at M606/Staygate and Manchester Road/Mayo Avenue junctions, a park and ride at Odsal, environmental improvements on minor roads and facilities to encourage cycling costing £2,120,000.

Not so early..

SIR - I think your readers should know that splashed across your front page on July 21,was yet another misleading headline concerning the proposed Bingley road - "Early start for bypass".

Careful examination of the Ten Year Transport Plan reveals that the start of the Bingley Relief Road has actually been delayed: the contract was due for award in late 2M0 but now it is declared as "early 2001".

Readers with internet facilities may like to check at http://www.detr.gov.uk/trans2010/factsheets/yh/index.htm

The headline should have read "Relief Road Delayed".

Were you taken in by Labour Party spin, or just badly informed? Both would appear to be the case as only the ignorant refer to the proposed Bingley road as a bypass when fundamentally it is not of that nature.

Is it not time the T&A sought credibility by reporting matters concerning the proposed Bingley road accurately, after checking the facts, and without invention?

EDITOR'S NOTE.. Our report merely covered the Government's announcement and Chris Leslie's claim that it meant an "early start" on the major part of the work. A December start would certainly be earlier than that last proposed

DRIVING: MP pins faith in safety measures after road's 116 incidents

`Fewer accidents' hope for the A650

by Alexandra Phillips, T&A reporter, Sept 1, 2000

Community leaders hope safety measures on a road dubbed the most dangerous in Britain will put the brakes on accidents.

A survey of `A' roads across the country identified the A650 between Bradford and Keighley as top of the league for having the highest number of accidents per mile.

According to the 1998 figures gathered from police, local authorities and the Highways Agency there were 116 accidents altogether on that stretch of road, including one fatal and 11 serious. Close behind was the A1033 from Hull to Hedon and the A40 Cheltenham to the M5.

But the Highways Agency said that although the figures were correct, the survey was misleading.

Area manager Peter Moffatt said: "The number of accidents referred to is correct, but it is not the case that the A650 is the most dangerous road in Britain.

"The average accident rate for roads similar in type to the A650 is 94 accidents per 100 million vehicle kilometres. This figure measures the number of accidents against the volume of traffic and gives a much clearer picture of the safety of a road.

"The equivalent rate for the A650 is 88 accidents/100m vehicle kms, below the national average.

"The severity of accidents on the A650 is also below the national average."

Shipley MP Chris Leslie said he was not surprised with the results but hoped recent changes to the road would curb accidents.

He said: "I'm aware that it was a very accident prone area in 1999 and wasn't surprised it could be one of the most dangerous roads in Britain.

"I was very pleased this year when the Highways Agency and Bradford Council amended and made safe most of that stretch. They turned one of the lanes into a bus lane and put in a new traffic island, protecting the Nab Wood cemetery access for the first time and calming traffic.

"So far it has reduced accidents tremendously but we do need to be very vigilant about monitoring that still very busy stretch of road."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the police had been concerned about the A650 for some time.

"We were pleased when the Highways Agency decided to change the road layout and since that was carried out at the beginning of the year, making it two lanes instead of three, there have been no serious accidents reported.

"We can improve the roads as best we can but motorists have got to drive in a responsible manner and stick to the speed limits."

A spokesman for BBC Radio 5 Live, which compiled the survey, said: "We pulled together accident figures on `A' roads and then tried to work out the number of accidents per mile. We thought by doing this we could give the bigger picture on dangerous roads."

Some answers on the relief road

SIR - I summarise some important questions, with answers, that were raised by the public during the September14 meeting of the Bingley Town Partnership about the effects of the Bingley ‘relief’ road if it were built:

• Is there a plan for the redevelopment of Bingley? No - the central precinct site would become too small and lack parking space due to the land taken uo by the road. Developers are more interested in the out-of-town Auction Mart site.

• Is there anything to stop people getting on the road and going elsewhere to shop? No -that is what they are likely to do.

• Can the Main Street be pedestrianised? No - it will still carry the 14,000 vehicles per day plus the extra traffic generated over time following housing developments in Airedale allowed by the Council.

The public is coming to understand that building this road would create more problems than it would solve.

Labour claim is just daft

Sir - How on earth can Shipley’s Labour MP suggest that the Conservatives ‘still oppose’ spending public money on the Bingley Relief Road (Target, October 19) when, as Shadow Transport Minister, I have already given a clear commitment to complete this project?

By the time Tony Blair has the guts to call an Election, a construction company will be under contract to build the road and the Government, any Government, will be under contract to hand over £60 million of public money to pay for it. For Mr Leslie to suggest that we will scrap a half-built road is not just misleading, it is down right daft.

Back to Clippings

Back to Page Top

Back to Main Story