Traffic plan delay would be a disaster (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Traffic plan delay would be a disaster

8:30am Thursday 9th September 2010 in Our View By Telegraph & Argus

If funding is cut and the proposed changes to the traffic system around the Saltaire roundabout have to be scrapped for up to 15 years, as feared, it would be nothing short of a disaster for motorists and residents.

This junction is simply unable to cope with the volume of traffic that is trying to use it and improvements are drastically needed.

The fears are that if funding for transport schemes is scaled back then other schemes that are further along in their development will take precedence.

Given the amount of planning work that has gone into the Saltaire scheme – and the money spent so far – it seems a little unfair if this is the case.

And 15 years is far too long to wait for the scheme to be put back on the starting blocks.

With the growth of communities along the Aire Valley increasing at an unprecedented rate, the numbers of motorists who will need to use the roads that feed into Saltaire will rise at a phenomenal rate over the next 15 years.

The existing infrastructure will simply not cope with the expected rise in traffic levels.

The Saltaire roundabout is a scheme that has much wider repercussions than just for the locality, and every effort must be made to ensure it stays resolutely on track, in the face of any coming cuts.