Cyclists held a protest in Huddersfield town centre about the lack progress in installing dedicated cycling and walking infrastructure in Kirklees.

Campaign group Cycle Kirklees assembled at Shorehead roundabout to demand that the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Kirklees Council start delivering.

Chris Knight, chair of the campaign, said: “Our local cycling network in Kirklees is all gaps, with little or no joined-up network.”

He said recent work on Queensgate, part of Huddersfield Ring Road, ignored earlier consultations that would have improved facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.

Chris added: “This section of road is a part of the only cycling route Kirklees Council has identified as a priority for dedicated space for walking and cycling.

“The route, from Huddersfield Railway Station to Waterloo via the A629 Wakefield Road, was agreed three years ago following lengthy consultation.

“It has the highest propensity of any route in Kirklees to increase cycling and walking and was meant to be the first step in establishing a Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) – a Government requirement.

 

 

“The highway designs included re-allocated road space and offered dedicated cycling paths and better bus priority routes. It would give people in areas served by the route the option to walk and cycle.

“We’ve been working with Kirklees Council, responding to plan after plan with still no published network plan. So far, we have about a quarter of a mile of Leeds Road (A62) as new cycling infrastructure that meets the national standards introduced in 2020.

“There’s a lot more happening to increase take up of active travel in Leeds and Bradford and more ambition in Calderdale.

“We need to rally all those who want to cycle to work or to the shops – or who have children who want to cycle to school – to get behind this campaign.”