Businesses threaten legal action over Bradford cycle route

Businesses in Bradford are threatening to sue the council for millions in compensation over an extension of the £29m cycle superhighway across a busy industrial estate.
The official opening of the CityConnect Cycle Superhighway connecting Leeds and Bradford last year.The official opening of the CityConnect Cycle Superhighway connecting Leeds and Bradford last year.
The official opening of the CityConnect Cycle Superhighway connecting Leeds and Bradford last year.

As many as 11 firms could take legal action after the council’s Executive backed restrictions as part of plans for the £2.5m Canal Road Corridor Scheme, which forms part of phase two of the CityConnect programme.

Traffic Regulation Orders approved yesterday will prohibit waiting and parking on Valley and Hillam Roads and make parts of Valley Road a one-way system.

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Paul Jaggar, director of builders merchants Uriah Woodhead & Son said customers and suppliers would be forced to make 15-minute loop to get to their Valley Road depot, “seriously curtailing the amount of access and business we receive.”

Cyclists using the  cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.Cyclists using the  cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.
Cyclists using the cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.

Mr Jaggar, who is also exploring the possibility of a judicial review, added: “There are some big companies down here and our business rates are collectively over £1m which are directly payable to Bradford Council. It could well be over £10m we are seeking as a collective in compensation.”

Tony Daly, managing director of Surefreight International on Hillam Road, said they’d already lost over £100,000 worth of business after a customer, freightforwarding company Eurogate International, decided to relocate to Leeds, a move he believes was “heavily influenced” by the impending restrictions. Cars were already parked “nose-to-tail” in the street, there was no off-street parking for employees and the changes would put cyclists in “greater danger” from lorries turning into premises. In a solicitor’s letter to the council, the firm placed on record its concern that cyclists, who are being given priority over trucks, and will not stop at the accesses, will “inevitably” be put at risk of an accident “which could result in substantial injury or even death.”

Graham Iles, director of cleaning products supplier Trevor Iles, said they would consider taking part in legal action. He added: “We have been here for 30 years and managed to grow the business four times the size we were.

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“It seems to go against the economic plan they launched and everything they said about attracting businesses into Bradford.”

Cyclists using the  cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.Cyclists using the  cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.
Cyclists using the cycle route near Thornbury Gyratory, Bradford.

A council report said the aim was to provide a “safe link” with the segregated cycle route connecting residential areas with “employment and training opportunities in Bradford city centre.” It will also connect to the Canal Road Greenway to Shipley and onto Airedale Greenway and the cycle superhighway between Leeds and Bradford.

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