A641: Key legal steps to be considered for multi-million pound highway plans on Bradford and Kirklees link road

The A641 improvement scheme passes through Brighouse and senior Calderdale councillors are asked to approve measures including compulsory purchase powers for land needed for the project and side road orders to enable work to take place.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member for Climate Action and Housing, Coun Scott Patient (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said ahead of the August 5 meeting: “This is a critical step forward for delivering the scheme which will help unlock the potential of this part of the borough.”

On a busy day the road can carry more than 20,000 vehicles a day in places and suffers from traffic congestion and lack of facilities for people choosing to walk and cycle.

This not only impacts economic growth but also results in air quality issues, noise and a poor environment for local residents, councillors are told.

They are also asked to approve principle of pursuing a bridge scheme, allowing an extra one to be built over the Calder and Hebble Navigation canal in Brighouse.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet will also be asked to enter into a Highways Act 1980 agreement with neighbours Bradford Council to drive the scheme, funded through West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund using Government cash, forward.

Benefits it is hoped the project will bring include safer junctions, new and improved traffic lights and crossings, and relieving congestion in Brighouse, where several “A” roads meet, the new bridge being a component.

New cycleways, placing some walking and cycle routes away from roads, better signage, bus priority measures and improving public spaces are also all planned as benefits.

Cabinet will consider support of compulsory purchase powers “in principle” for land needed, stressing these would be used as a last resort if preferred acquisitions by agreement are not possible.

The area for the scheme covers about three miles from the Calderdale-Bradford boundary at Bailiff Bridge and running through Brighouse to the Calderdale-Kirklees boundary next to the M62 motorway.

Proposals have been developed using feedback from consultation and engagement with local people and organisations, councillors are told.