A DECISION to challenge the implementation of traffic regulation orders (TRO) on a new cycleway connecting Shipley and Bradford has been “called in” to a Council committee amid fears any delay would put the entire £2.5 million project “at risk”.

Last week, members of the Bradford East Area Committee asked planners to explore different options for the route, stating the current proposal was “not an attractive proposition for cyclists”.

But that decision has now been referred to Bradford Council’s Environment and Waste Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with a recommendation to dismiss any concerns and forge ahead with the scheme.

The proposed TRO would see restrictions put on parking and access along the route in Valley Road, also affecting Hamm Strasse, Queen’s Road, Leeming Street, Hillam Road, Bolton Lane, Canal Road, Stanley Road, Lower Kirkgate, and North Holme Street.

The Bradford East Area Committee overruled a recommendation to pass the orders after hearing that three objections had been made about access to industrial sites on the route, a loss of street parking, danger to cyclists, and the safe movement of traffic.

Committee chairman Councillor Rachel Sunderland (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) said: “We have delayed making a decision until there is a bit more of a detailed look at what other options are available”, with members suggesting an alternative route using land alongside Valley Road next to the Bradford to Shipley railway line.

After securing £22m of funding for phase two of the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Grant, Bradford Council worked with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) on plans for a new continuous, high-quality segregated cycle route between Bradford and Shipley.

The scheme, designed to provide a safe link for cyclists between the growing residential areas along Canal Road and the employment and training opportunities in Bradford city centre, would also provide a connection to the Canal Road Greenway and Airedale Greenway, and the multi-million Cycle Superhighway between Leeds and Bradford, which constituted phase one of the CityConnect programme.

Following approval by the Council’s Executive group in September last year, the scheme had progressed to design and tender stage.

A report due to go before the scrutiny committee states that the decision to defer approval of the TRO, including the introduction of a one-way section on Valley Road, would put the “entire scheme at risk”.

It reads: “The decision jeopardises a cycleway project that is a key element of our district cycling strategy and backed by the Bradford Cycling Campaign, and, crucially, risks losing altogether WYCA investment of £2.5m that will benefit the Bradford district as a whole for years to come.”

The document also states that a number of alternative routes for the cycleway were considered but ruled unviable with the price of acquiring land from Network Rail and the extended timescales involved ruling out the option of a route alongside Valley Road, and the higher volume of traffic and air pollution meaning a track along Canal Road was deemed unfeasible.

The report states that local ward members and the emergency services have been consulted on the advertised TRO and have “not raised any objections”, with members advised to dismiss any objections and allow the project to progress.

The scrutiny committee meets at City Hall at 5.30pm on Tuesday, July 25.