Road safety to be improved thanks to funding boost

Keighley Area Committee, which met last Thursday, (August 18) decided how to spend its share of Bradford Council’s £825,000 for road improvement across the district.

Around 70 per cent of the budget – £110,000 – has been earmarked for measures to cut deaths and serious injuries. Councillors will spend £15,000 on traffic measures, including a possible reduction in the speed limit, on the A65 Leeds Road near Ashlands Primary School in Ilkley.

A £15,000 scheme for Addingham, including Moor Lane/Skipton Road and Silsden Road/Main Street, will include junction improvements, traffic measures and a possible reduction in the speed limit.

Ilkley's Conservative ward councillor Martin Smith, Keighley Area Commitee member and opposition spokesman on Highway, transport and regeneration said the committee heard safer roads schemes planned within the previous year's budget had been substantially completed.

"All others including Ashland’s School works will be discussed with the ward district councillors before moving to the planning stage, hopefully before April 2017," he said. "In discussions with Simon D' Vali (principal engineer for Bradford Council's highways department) it became clear that most of the accidents were caused by obstructions to junctions by cars being parked illegally. Action will be taken on this issue."

Cllr Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley) said: "There are consistent calls for traffic calming and speeding restrictions. As we know speeding restrictions need policing or they are pointless.

"On long straight wide roads I cease to wonder at the numbers of residents who persist in parking on pavements. Some even ruining grass verges. The reality is that parked cars produce a wonderful form of traffic calming. We all know some of the narrow roads where if cars don't mount the pavement flow of traffic is prohibited and gridlock is produced. But this is not the case everywhere.

"At times on wide roads it is these cars blocking the site lines which cause the accidents and not the speeding car. I tend to think there have been a couple of cases in Ben Rhydding where this was the case. Cars leaving the side roads need full visibility."

The £43,450 not earmarked for casualty reduction will be spent on traffic management schemes across Ilkley, Keighley and surrounding villages.

This will include maintenance of electronic speed-warning signs (£5,000), signing and lining improvements on Safe Routes to School (£5,000), mobility improvements (£6,450), and anti-skid surfacing at crossing facilities (£7,000).

Committee members decided to spend £20,000 of their roads budget on traffic regulation orders (TROs) to tackle problems on roads across the constituency.

The area committee focused 70 per cent of its £153,000 roads budget and safety schemes to tie in with a 15-year transport strategy for West Yorkshire running until 2026.