The first stages of a major project aimed at ending Ilkley's traffic headache could be completed by Christmas - if residents give them the green light.

Full details of an ambitious transport plan for the town were unveiled by representatives from Bradford Council and consultants Faber Maunsell at an extraordinary meeting of Ilkley Parish Council.

The scheme, the result of 16 months research, could see linked traffic lights introduced at either end of Ilkley on the A65 in a bid to manage vehicle flow and reduce congestion.

A host of other measures, including time restricted town centre parking, new bus shelters and rail links, as well as improved pedestrian crossings are proposed.

Principal consultant for Faber Maunsell, Jonathan Spruce, and Council traffic engineer Phil Sawley told the meeting that the nine-part project will cost an estimated £1,102,950 - nearly four times the original £300,000 budget. A final round of 'street level' consultation is about to begin and, if it goes smoothly, work to create better facilities for bus passengers along Valley Drive will start this September.

Mr Sawley said: "The third round of consultations will be very local, making sure local people, who have already told us they support the works in principle, are also supportive of the details of the projects which directly affect them."

Detailed plans would be sent to residents in each of the action areas, he said, and public meetings organised for any concerns to be discussed.

The Valley Drive scheme will be followed in October by the introduction of traffic calming chicanes, islands and speed warning road markings in Bolling Road.

Work on that section will coincide with measures designed to make life easier for pedestrians at Ben Rhydding railway station in Wheatley Road, including an improved footpath below the bridge and speed bumps.

Both projects are due to be completed before the end of the year, with what Mr Sawley described as "the crux of Faber Maunsell's whole philosophy of traffic management in Ilkley," the A65 signals, up and running by next May.

In one of the few controversial decisions within the report, Denton Bridge looks set to be made one-way, available for northbound motorists only.

In earlier consultation residents stated that they would like to see the bridge remain as it is, but the report argues that it will be too close to the new traffic lights near the Leeds Road / Wheatley Lane junction for that.

The start of the New Year will see steps taken to improve parking in the town centre, including new short stay spaces for Brook Street. A bus-rail link service from Addingham to Ilkley could also be created in January or February in a bid to reduce the level of commuter parking. Parish councillors gave a muted response to the document, with leader Councillor Mike Gibbons summing up the mood by saying he awaited with interest the results of the final consultations.

Councillor Kate Brown said: "I welcome the report because for many years we have promised residents that we would do something about parking if we could."

The later stages of the works will see improved pedestrian access, in the form of raised road crossing points, for The Grove, Brook Street and Station Road by June, 2003. Two further schemes to reduce rat-running along Kings Road/Victoria Avenue/ Grove Road and in Valley Drive/Leeds Road, by reducing the speed limit to 20mph, are pencilled in for an April, 2004 completion date.

But Mr Sawley said he hoped the success of the A65 traffic management network would render those steps unnecessary.

To date Bradford Council has found £943,000 from available funds to pay for the whole scheme.