More than £127m of sustainable transport and regeneration schemes will be discussed by West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s investment committee.
According to the authority, the schemes will help the region’s economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.
Two schemes in Leeds will be considered, with £13.6m touted for segregated cycling and walking infrastructure, improvements to public spaces in the Civic and Northern Quarter, and better bus reliability and journey times through key junction and route upgrades. These will be delivered through Leeds City Region’s Transforming Cities Fund.
For York, a £14m package of improvements in and around the main line rail station, which will complement the York Central development, will be presented to members. The proposed scheme will also include cycle routes between the station and Askham Bar Park and Ride, as well as new public spaces at the Station, Tea Room Squares and the Portico.
Also on the agenda is the Halifax town centre scheme, which would see £47m invested in the A629, funded through the West Yorkshire Transport Plus Fund. The plans include better walking and cycling facilities, with connections into the town centre.
The scheme also aims to improve bus reliability and the interchange between bus and rail services by re-routing existing services and introducing new stops at the Southgate, Wards End Link, Alfred Street East and Horton Street.
Furthermore, the meeting will hear details of a £10m Emergency Active Travel Fund, which includes trial walking and cycling infrastructure and behavioural change initiatives. The authority said this package will help people move around the region safely in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cllr Denise Jeffery, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s investment committee, said: “Building the future we want with a transport system fit for the 21st century is more important than ever, not only as we look to address the health and economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also in helping us achieve our aim of becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2038.
“We need to reduce car trips by 21% and increase cycling trips by 2,000%, walking trips by 78%, bus trips by 39% and rail trips by 53% if we are to achieve our ambitious net zero targets in this time frame.”
Members will be asked to approve the release of a further £1.2m towards Rail Park and Ride schemes at Steeton and Silsden, Moorthorpe and Normanton, bringing the total funding for these projects to £7.8m.
