A multi-million pound bid to the Sports Lottery fund is to be made by Bradford Council as part of a county-wide scheme to extend the district's cycle lanes.

But the project has come under fire from some councillors and traders, who believe improving roads and public transport should be the priority to boost the local economy.

In a joint project with the four other West Yorkshire councils of Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, an application for £12.5 million is to be tendered to the Sports Council next month to create more than 105 miles of cycle lanes in the county.

The scheme - the West Yorkshire Town and Country Cycleway - is planned to be built jointly by the councils and the national cycling group Sustrans. It would give Bradford an extra 27 miles of cycle lanes.

Councillor Latif Darr, chairman of the Council's transportation and design committee, praised the scheme. He said that it would form part of the National Cycle Network, linking Leeds via the Leeds-Liverpool Canal into Shipley through Bradford to Cleckheaton, Calderdale and Kirklees.

But traders are worried that more cycle lanes will turn shoppers away from the city.

Jeff Frankel, spokesman for Bradford's Retail Action Group, said: "As far as the retail trade is concerned, we don't get an awful lot of business from cyclists.

"A lot of money has been put into the cycle lanes but if you compare the number of cyclists using the roads to the number of car users, the amount is minuscule."

And Bradford Council Conservative leader Margaret Eaton said: "We want a city which is economically thriving and I don't think this is the best way forward.

"We need to look more at road maintenance before we look at cycle lanes."

Other groups have expressed concern about safety aspects of an increased cycle network.

Val Summerscales, secretary of Bradford's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "We have to make sure that roads are wide enough to include cycle lanes so that we are not compromising the safety of any road user."

Coun Howard Middleton (Lib Dem, Bolton) added: "It might be safer to have designated cycle routes which are off the roads entirely."

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