A NEW £2.5m segregated cycle path which would link two existing routes looks set to get the green light tomorrow.

The scheme, a 2.3km extension to the Canal Road Greenway, would mean there was a traffic-free cycle route all the way from Shipley to Bradford city centre.

The route would pass the Forster Square retail park and Forster Square station, and would also link to the Bradford-to-Leeds Cycle Superhighway, which opened around a year ago.

The scheme has been welcomed by local cycling campaigners, who said lessons had been learnt from the much-criticised design of the Cycle Superhighway.

David Robison, chairman of the Bradford Cycling Campaign, said: “There has been quite a lot of criticism directed at the Leeds-Bradford superhighway from various quarters, including cyclists, because of inconsistencies at junctions and a lack of clarity about what they are supposed to do, but a huge amount has been learned in the process of putting that together.

“I think they have done a really good job of the plans.”

Mr Robison said it would also help to join up the area’s “fragmented bits of infrastructure” for cyclists.

He said: “It will be fab. It means you will be able to take your kids all the way from Shipley to Bradford on a bike without being scared, and that’s something that’s just not possible at the moment.”

The Leeds–Liverpool canal towpath would also be upgraded from Riddlesden to Silsden.

Both projects would form part of CityConnect, a £55m programme for cycling infrastructure in West Yorkshire and York funded mainly by the Government.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority's transport committee is expected to give approval for work to start on both schemes when it meets tomorrow.

The chairman, Councillor Keith Wakefield, said: “We already have some of the UK’s best segregated cycling and walking infrastructure, in the form of the Bradford to Leeds Cycle Superhighway, which in its first year has been used by cyclists to make over 225, 000 trips.

“These proposed schemes are an opportunity to build on that positive start and provide routes that encourage more people to cycle and walk, with all the benefits, in terms of lower pollution, reduced congestion and improved health that brings.”

The Canal Road cycle path would run along Valley Road, Bolton Lane and Hillam Road, and involves a number of changes to local roads, such as making a section of Valley Road one-way and removing some on-street parking.

These changes have attracted three objections, which are due to be discussed at the Bradford East Area Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Officers are recommending that the objections be overruled and the traffic changes approved.