A LOCAL resident has hit out about a number of traffic issues on Rooley Avenue in Bradford after electrics roadworks started about a week ago.

Blue barriers have been put up on Rooley Avenue as a programme of electrical work by Northern Powergrid began on February 10 and are expected to last until the end of April.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Electrics roadworks is causing traffic to back up on Rooley Avenue.Electrics roadworks is causing traffic to back up on Rooley Avenue. (Image: Newsquest)

Lee Veevers-Fearnley, who lives on Rooley Avenue, says since then there have been traffic queues, particularly at busy times of day. He also said that not all residents were notified about the work.

He said: “As a resident, the first I heard of it was when they put the signs up.

“We’ve not had any communication from Northern Powergrid regarding these works.

“Maybe they let the people know across the road. There are more houses over there.

“The roadworks are causing traffic to back up both ways on Rooley Avenue. The traffic will be worse next week when the schools are back.

“Lorries sitting in traffic are spewing out exhaust. I work in the back part of my house but I can smell the fumes because they’re backing up.

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said: “We are reinforcing the resilience and reliability of the local network by installing new underground electricity cables between our substation on Staithgate Lane and our substation near Odsal Stadium.

“To carry out this essential work, it is inevitable that we will need to dig in the road or footpath to install the new cables.

“Appropriate traffic management measures are in place to enable our engineers to safely carry out the work, which is planned for completion by the end of April.

“We have previously written to customers on Rooley Avenue to inform them about the work taking place and apologise to any customers who live nearby and did not receive a letter. We have put up signage and published details of our schedule on our website, local newspapers and on social media and will continue to keep local people informed as the work progresses. “We have worked closely with Bradford Council to inform the best dates and times for this work to take place and are regularly inspecting our work and traffic levels.

“At the Council’s request, we have been working at weekends and are hopeful that this will enable us to finish the work on Rooley Avenue earlier than planned.

“We would like to thank customers for their continued patience while this important investment work is carried out and encourage anyone with questions to get in touch.”

Mr Veevers-Fearnley said: “Since the Clean Air Zone came in (in September 2022) the amount of traffic has increased on Rooley Avenue.

“If the lorries and vans don’t want to pay, they come onto this road. But we see a lot of private cars too even though they don’t have to pay CAZ charges. Some people in private vehicles don’t know they don’t have to pay.

“I’m not against CAZ but I’d like to benefit from clean air too.”

A Braford Council spokesperson said: “The Council has been monitoring on both sides of Rooley Avenue in Bradford using a total of six monitoring points (three each side of the road) for a number of years.

“Monitoring at this location before and after the CAZ implementation shows there has been a reduction in pollution levels.

“The concentrations of pollution currently being measured in this area are low (in the low 20s ug/m3) and below the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide of 40ug/m3.

“The Council has carried out a comprehensive displacement study which identified that the percentage of commercial vehicles did not increase following introduction of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) across 21 sites.”

Mr Veevers-Fearnley also said that speeding traffic is an issue on the road, particularly in the evening.

“On a night, some drivers treat it like a drag strip. It was 40mph about 12 years ago but it’s now 30mph.

“We’ve been asking the Council to put 30mph speed limit signs at the top and bottom of Rooley Avenue, but they refused to do it.

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “Rooley Avenue is an urban area with street lighting and according to the Highway Code motorists should assume that the speed limit here is 30mph.

“In accordance with regulation there are existing 30mph limit signs where the speed limit changes on nearby routes, for example when exiting the M606 or when driving westbound on Rooley Lane.

“Regulations also mean that additional 30mph signs are not permitted to be installed on this type of road.”