WYCA and Bradford Council have opened a consultation on this scheme. You are encouraged to fill out their short survey – it only takes 10 minutes. We feel it’s important that the voices of cyclists are represented in the responses. You can do it here – deadline is Sunday 18th of August.
https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/bradfordshipley
Our response is below and you may wish to reflect some of the points (assuming you agree) in your own response to add weight in numbers to the consultation evaluation.
Submission from the Bradford Cycling Campaign
- We welcome the revised proposals overall; particularly the abandonment of the intent to dual Canal Road in both directions between the city centre and Shipley.
- We favour any proposal which encourages people to cycle, walk or use public transport instead of using the car. There is much to commend here, including bus gates.
- We support discouragement of motor traffic and note this is a cornerstone of WYCA’s own climate policy, which we feel is not being taken seriously enough across the board.
- Most regular road cyclists are also regular car drivers; at the same time, all drivers (whether regular cyclists or not), would appreciate there being fewer cars on the road. Cyclists, when driving cars, feel every bit as frustrated as car drivers who don’t cycle regularly, when held up in traffic. People who complain about being held up in traffic, are themselves part of the problem and contributing to the congestion that is affecting them there and then. So at a fundamental level, this is about behaviour change: persuading people who would normally drive cars but who might cycle short distances to do just that.
- Making streets safer and much easier to navigate by bicycle (especially making them friendly for children and families), will encourage people to make this kind of choice. We therefore fully support easier walking, cycling, bus use and safer streets with enhanced greenery. The cycle routes need to be friendly for children and families as well as for confident cyclists.
- We are concerned that widening of sections of Canal Road will give extra vehicle capacity to the main road, attracting and retaining traffic rather than reducing vehicle use. Please ensure that the proposals result in less traffic. The widening of Canal Road at Midland Terrace may attract more traffic to the system.
- We note that ‘The Branch’ Public house was demolished without proper consultation or publishing of plans several years ago. This led to very justifiable parents’ and residents’ fears that even more traffic would be routed down Otley Road past Shipley C of E Primary School. We need to see a quantifiable reduction in motor traffic outside such schools and indeed across the District.
- A 20-zone on the main roads at key sections could also be considered. (A 20-zone already exists on Saltaire Road, Shipley, so the idea of such a speed restriction on a main road, locally, is nothing new).
- The improved cycling routes must be joined up with existing routes, in particular from the Canal Road Greenway (National Cycle Network Route 66) at the Shipley end, to both Shipley Railway Station and the canal towpath. Is it possible to use a small amount of the funding available for this project, to provide a safe crossing over Leeds Road, Shipley? This remains an often-repeated campaigning issue.
- In the context of Leeds Road, Shipley, it is once again quite telling that the existing cycling infrastructure at the northern end of the Canal Road Greenway; and indeed the Canal Road Greenway as a whole, plus the CSH along part of Canal Road, Hillam Road and Valley Road which all form part of NCN66 – are not even noted in the map. There is reference on a map to simply a point on “the cycleway”, and this does not give us confidence.
- Our suggestions are consistent with the recommendations of the Shipley Citizens’ Jury Climate Report 2023; and in particular recommendation no 9 relating to ‘Active Travel’ and associated suggestions: https://sharedfuturecic.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Citizens-Jury-on-climate-Shipley-2023.pdf
- It would also be helpful to have a shared use facility along the entire length of Midland Road. There is ample space on the current footpath for that. This would increase even more, the range of safe options for local people who might choose to cycle. It should be a low cost intervention.
- We ask:
- All the proposals for blocked roads need effective filters for bikes and gaps in any parking provision to allow bikes and mobility scooters and so on, to gain access in full compliance with LTN 1/20, including minimum widths and dropped kerbs.
- Cycle routes at crossings and junctions need to be seamless: minimal need for ‘push-button’ provision which often accompany multiple stop-starts over given junctions. It should be possible to cross over a multi-lane junction in one go without having to wait on several traffic islands over a period of two or three minutes waiting for a few green signals to come on. Multiple stop-starts prove a disincentive to active travel; and it is only natural then that more cyclists will use the main carriageway in these circumstances. This frustrates some motorists and can lead to conflict.
- More capacity for bikes to go on trains and, ideally bike carriers, on buses should be considered as is available in many European cities. This would make for a truly integrated transport system; more effectively than more tarmac. (We also note the reduced Northern Trains timetable from Shipley to Ilkley, just one an hour and the effect this will have had on connecting journeys. Reinstating more regular trains as well as the bus improvements would be welcomed.)
- We also note the poor state of cycling lanes after the bus lanes are finished (in Shipley itself, on Bingley Road, approaching Saltaire and a proposal to make the bus lanes 24 hours several years ago appear to have been dropped.
- Please publish the traffic and emissions forecasts showing that there will definitely be less traffic overall.