One of Huddersfield’s biggest employers is to build an enclosed footbridge over a busy road to keep staff and visitors safe.

Cummins Turbo Technologies, which has recently invested £20 million in its Huddersfield manufacturing plant, decided to act after a member of staff was seriously injured crossing the road.

Cummins, which employs around 1,000 people, has a split site in St Andrew’s Road and staff and visitors have to cross the road to get to and from the car park.

Following a serious accident Cummins drew up designs for an enclosed pedestrian footbridge above the road. The clearance of 5.86 metres (just under 20ft) is said to be plenty for double decker buses or “typical UK lorries.”

Kirklees Council planners described early designs as “stark and utilitarian” saying they could spoil long distance views towards Castle Hill.

The council urged more “high quality and innovative design” and Cummins went back to the drawing board and produced a more ‘curvy’ design which mimics the letter ‘C’ in the Cummins logo.

The company has now submitted a planning application for a footbridge based on the new design.

 

 

In its planning statement published on the council website, the company says: “At present, the Cummins Huddersfield site is spread over both sides of St Andrew’s Road, a busy two-way road with moderate to high amounts of traffic during working hours. This road poses a constant risk to staff and visitors of Cummins.

“There is a traffic light pedestrian crossing that is frequently used by members of staff and visitors.

“Due to the amount of traffic in combination with the frequency of staff and visitors crossing the road, there is a permanent health and safety risk of a vehicle-related incident.

“Recently, a Cummins member of staff was struck by a vehicle while crossing St Andrew’s Road. This person was hospitalised and is since recovering from major injuries.

“This incident has led to health and safety discussions within Cummins Turbo Technologies at high level which has led them to pursue potential solutions to eliminate the risk of crossing St Andrew’s Road at road level.

“The current pedestrian crossings on St Andrew’s Road only serve to reduce the risk. However, as driver error and human error are constant factors the risk will always remain.

“The proposed solution is an enclosed steel frame footbridge over St Andrew’s Road to provide safe passage for members of staff and visitors of Cummins Turbo Technologies.

“This solution will eliminate the need for staff and visitors to cross the road using the existing pedestrian crossing thus eliminating the risk of another vehicle-related incident happening again.”

The statement says the new design has a large curve and a “rounding off” which is more pleasing on the eye with a symbolic ‘C’ meant to mimic the shape of the turbos manufactured by the company.

The cladding proposed will make the bridge look more “seamless and less bulky” and the columns and bridge supports add to the uniqueness of the design.

The company says the long distance views towards Castle Hill will only be interrupted for just over three seconds for vehicles travelling at 30mph.

 

In 2023 Cummins completed a six-year £20 million investment into its manufacturing centre creating what the company described as a “truly world class facility” able to produce around 300,000 turbochargers a year.

As well as an updated manufacturing plant, there was a new research and development centre, renovated offices, canteen and gym.

The development work was interrupted for 18 months by the pandemic otherwise it would have been completed for the company’s 70th anniversary in 2022.

Cummins started in a wooden shed in Huddersfield. The original company, incorporated in 1952 as Holset Engineering Co Ltd, was founded by business partners Brian Holmes and Paul Croset.

It was acquired by Cummins Inc in 1973 and rebranded as Cummins Turbo Technologies in 2006.