City bus and cycle lanes plan moves to next stage

A £23m plan to add new bus and cycle lanes on one of the main routes into Bradford has moved to the next stage.

The changes to Wakefield Road are also expected to see the installation of new pedestrian crossings and the planting of trees along the busy route.

A report to members of West Yorkshire Combined Authority stated that it was hoped the changes would reduce bus journey times and could mean a 25% boost in people using buses along the route.

At a recent meeting of the authority, members voted to release a further £1.28m so a full business case for the scheme could be developed which was needed before work could get under way.

The target was for work on the road to start in February 2027 and be completed by March 2028, members were told.

The report revealed that the estimated cost of the works had risen by over £3m - from £20m in 2024 to £23m.

Funding for the scheme would come from the government through its Transport for City Regions fund, it stated.

The project would include just under 0.6 miles (1km) of bus lanes between Hall Lane and Lorne Street in both directions, as well as segregated bi-directional cycle tracks, the meeting heard.

Meanwhile, a total of 25 trees would be planted, 22,090 sq ft (2,032 sq m) of soft landscaping would be installed and public space improvements would take place, including the filling of four underpass systems.

The plans also include the creation of four new toucan crossings, three new pelican crossings and two new zebra crossings - and the upgrading of 12 bus stops.

Some aspects of the scheme had, however, been dropped, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, including plans to add signals to the Bowling Back Lane roundabout.

That part of the plan had been scrapped after surveys found it would delay traffic too much, members of the authority were told.

The length of new bus lane along the route had also been halved since the initial proposals.

The report said: "Following strategic outline case approval at the September 2024 Combined Authority, the scheme has developed the design and outputs, supported by findings from its economic assessment and other key activities such as the Road Safety Audit.

"This has led to some changes, notably the Bowling Back roundabout will no longer be signalised due to the forecast delay to general traffic, and also a reduction in the total length of bus lane from 4.3km to 1.9km.

"The scheme still demonstrates good benefits to buses with a forecast two minutes of journey time saving."

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