WE NEED better transport links across the North, which would bring very obvious benefits for Bradford businesses.

The idea of a motorway connecting the north-west of the Bradford district with East Lancashire seems a sensible one as it would provide another major trans-Pennine route to take pressure off the busy M62.

However, such a scheme would only be part of the solution so far as Bradford’s transport network is concerned. Once you have a route to take traffic quickly between Lancashire and the Keighley area, how do you then get that traffic to travel smoothly between Keighley and Bradford city centre (and Leeds Bradford Airport) without intensifying existing bottlenecks in areas like Nab Wood, Saltaire, Shipley and Canal Road? In the same way as the construction of the Bingley relief road pushed the congestion further along the valley, a motorway into Lancashire has potential to have a similar knock-on effect.

While we broadly back the calls for a new motorway, it’s clear that such a scheme would bring many extra vehicles into the Aire Valley - putting extra pressure on a traffic-choked corridor. Therefore, it seems logical that any future motorway project to the north-west of our district would have to be carried out hand in hand with work to ease congestion in and around Shipley.

Experience tells us that this will not be easy as no viable solution has ever been found for the town’s traffic woes, despite talk of a tunnel and an eastern relief road.

Any investment in the region’s transport network is welcome, but we need joined up thinking to avoid unintended consequences.