A MAJOR road scheme will help encourage more people in Brighouse to walk and cycle - a local Councillor has claimed.

Around £95 million will be spent on work to the A641 as part of the Bradford/Huddersfield Corridor project.

Last month West Yorkshire Combined Authority agreed to pay £1.335 million to move forwards with an outline business case for the scheme. The Authority, made up of the five West Yorkshire Councils, will be funding up to £75 million for the scheme.

Works will see junction improvements, a new cycle greenway between Wyke and Brighouse, another between Brighouse town centre and Cooper Bridge and new road links created in and around Brighouse.

Cycling and walking routes endorsed by transport committee

The A641 is a key route through Brighouse that connects Huddersfield and Bradford, and the works are seen as a key part of the town’s future regeneration.

Councillor Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot), Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration and Resources, said work will soon begin to further develop preferred scheme options ahead of consultation exercises in 2021 with residents, businesses and other interested parties.

She said: “The A641 through Brighouse is a busy road which suffers from a number of issues, including congestion and poor air quality. We want to help encourage a shift away from car use by improving facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and making bus travel a much more attractive prospect. I’m pleased that we can now move forward with plans for the project and start to develop more detailed proposals which we’ll then share as part of consultation exercises.”

Calderdale Council says it carries around 38,000 vehicles on an average day.

Transport-related issues currently experienced on the road include traffic congestion, poor air quality and a lack of facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, she added. The proposals should improve the flow of traffic and provide safe, convenient and enhanced access through Brighouse town centre and along the A641.

The scheme will include junction improvements, new cycleways and new link roads to better connect communities, said Coun Scullion.

Improvements will also aim to encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport as a viable alternative to car use.

Coun Scullion said the scheme complements other projects in the south east Calderdale area, including Clifton Business Park, the Brighouse town centre masterplan and garden suburb proposals which form part of the draft Local Plan that could to move into second phase hearings later this year.

The A641 scheme is being funded by the Combined Authority’s West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund.

Highlights of the scheme include

- a new cycle greenway along the former Pickle Bridge alignment between the Wyke Lion and Brighouse

- a new segregated left turn from the A58 Whitehall Road to A641

- work to re-align and signalise the Abb Scott Lane/New Works Road junction with the A641

- public realm improvement in Brighouse town centre

- the upgrade of the A643/A644 roundabout to a larger roundabout

- a new off road cycle route between Brighouse town centre and Cooper Bridge