Member Article

£21 million ‘cycle superhighway’ in the works between Leeds and Bradford as Tour legacy

Plans that will see a new £21 million cycling ‘superhighway’ linking a 23km route from Leeds to Bradford moved a step closer to completion today.

Council chiefs hope that one of the legacies of the Tour de France for Leeds will be the increased take up of cycling as a commuter option and that by investing in projects such as a high quality ‘cycle superhighway’ it will help make the choice to cycle easier.

The decision by the council’s Executive Board today means that construction of the new dedicated cycle route from Cross Gates to Bradford City Centre could start in Autumn this year. The whole scheme is expected to be completed for December 2015.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council executive board member for transport and the economy, said: “Hot on the heels of hosting a hugely successful Grand Départ in Leeds, this new segregated cycle route will help ensure a lasting legacy for many years to come.

“With the creation of this route, we hope to see a greater number of people taking up cycling for shorter and leisure journeys, as well as for commuting.

“This scheme is about inspiring more people to cycle who may not usually do so; it is not for a small, specialist group of people alone. It is cycling as a whole and cycling for everyone that we want to encourage and we believe this scheme is doing just that.”

Councillor James Lewis, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, said: “The cycle superhighway is a big step forward building on work like the go:cycling project to encourage more people to cycle more often.

“Work can now begin in earnest on the Cycle Superhighway connecting Leeds and Bradford, allowing us to move forward in making our region a cleaner, greener and healthier area to live and work.”

The scheme also includes the creation of 20mph zones alongside to the route of the cycle superhighway.

The Leeds Bradford Cycle Superhighway scheme is estimated to cost £21.2 million. These costs will be funded from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority City Connect Programme budget of £29.2 million which includes a Department for Transport grant of £18 million and £10.89 million from the West Yorkshire Transport Plan fund.

The City Connect programme will provide a step-change in the quality of cycle tracks and facilities to enable safe access to the cycle network and ensure effective links with the surrounding communities and neighbourhoods.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .