THERE will be temporary traffic lights and a road closure in place in the coming weeks as Northern Powergrid's £30 million project to upgrade the electricity network continues.

The work, which started in September last year, is ongoing until the end of 2022 and involves excavating in the road to lay a total of 132km - around 82 miles - of new underground electricity cables with a route length of 17km, or 10.5 miles.

The company, which is currently working along Toller Lane, will be turning the corner into Heaton Park Drive from next week (November 30) and working towards the second junction with Branksome Crescent until December 23. Multiway traffic lights will be in operation while this section of the work is carried out.

Then from January 4 until the end of January 2021, the section of Heaton Park Drive from Branksome Crescent to the junction with Heaton Road will be closed so the company can complete its work along this section.

A signposted diversion will be in place along Toller Lane, Leylands Lane, Highgate and Heaton Road. 

There are no plans to turn off anyone’s power as part of this work. Emergency vehicle and pedestrian access will be maintained at all times and Northern Powergrid is writing to everyone directly affected with more information.               

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: “Our contractor Excalon is making great progress with our work in Bradford and is currently ahead of schedule – good news as we’re always very keen to reduce the disruption or work can cause.

“Closing roads is always our last resort which is why we’re carrying out most of our work along Heaton Park Drive under multiway traffic lights so that we can reduce the amount of time the road has to be fully closed. And, as always, we’ll be trying to finish as quickly as we can.

“We’d like to thank local people for their ongoing patience while we strive to complete our investment work in the area as quickly as possible. If anyone wants to find out more about why and where our work in Bradford is taking place they can view our new video (available in English and Punjabi) on the Bradford pages of the Northern Powergrid website – northernpowergrid.com/bradford.”

Letters are being issued to all homes and business premises directly affected.