Highways works pave the way for £175m plan

The scheme will help pave the way for the 175m Waterfront development, which will provide a new base for Kirklees College and, it is hoped, will create hundreds of jobs in Huddersfield.

Building work has started on the new 73m Kirklees College's new 260,000sq ft campus, due to open in September 2012, to replace obsolete buildings.

Now work is under way preparing the infrastructure for the scheme.

Coun Peter McBride, the council's cabinet member for regeneration said: "The Waterfront development is the single biggest regeneration project currently underway in Kirklees.

"The site will include a new building for Kirklees College, 300 new homes, 190,000 sq ft of offices, plus cafes, bars and leisure facilities. It will provide hundreds of local jobs and create a brilliant community for people from far and wide.

"The scheme will also bring benefits for road users in a place that has suffered congestion for years and will also show potential investors in Huddersfield that we really mean business."

Following public talks carried out last year the scheme will now include:

Pavement and road resurfacing between the ring road and St Thomas's Road junction

A new 24-hour bus and cycle lane westbound, towards Longroyd Bridge

New traffic lights to reduce congestion

The work will cause delays but the authority said disruption would be kept to a minimum during weekdays and work will be suspended from late November to early January to allow for the Christmas and New Year period.