A £900,000 road improvement plan aimed at cutting congestion and making Spen Valley roads safer has been unveiled.

Kirklees Council's highways officers are drawing up plans for the A638 from the Chain Bar roundabout through Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike town centres as far as Staincliffe. Members of the public will be invited to give their views on the proposals over the next two to three months.

Peter Taylor, highways group engineer for programme development, said: "This scheme involves a series of improvements aimed at specific junctions and sections of road along the A638. We are looking at ways to make the road more effective.

"We will be looking to improve public transport, putting in pedestrian facilities and implementing accident reduction measures. It will not be a massive section of roadworks end to end, but will be done in phases to minimise disruption."

The team will be speaking to people who live along the route as well as motorists, pedestrians and cyclists who use the road regularly.

"We are working on a series of exhibitions along the way and possibly putting adverts on buses," said Mr Taylor.

"There will also be leaflet-drops informing people of our plans and asking for their input."

He said Heckmondwike town centre would be looked at in detail.

"One of the main things people told us about Heckmondwike was that there was no bus station and people didn't know where to catch buses.

"People were also concerned that pedestrian crossings were in the wrong places and that congestion is quite bad.

"We are interested to know what concerns people about the situation in Heckmondwike."

Mr Taylor said that at the Swan traffic lights in Liversedge they were looking at putting in a bus lane and a pedestrian crossing on the junction.

Officers are looking at ways of making it easier to cross the road outside Littletown J&I School in Bradford Road. A scheme involving bringing kerbs out for buses is being considered.

"We are also conscious that cyclists use the Greenway and want to make it easier for them to access that across the road from the school," said Mr Taylor.

"We try to take a holistic approach to major scheme development and don't want to look at just one or two improvements. We want to address all the issues."

He said they would look into speed cameras on any stretch of the road, if that was what the public asked for.

Work on the scheme is likely to begin early in 2003 and could take between six and nine months to complete.