£75m Cooper Bridge road scheme to move to the next stage despite issues remaining with plan

The A62 to Cooper Bridge Corridor Improvement Scheme is one of the biggest infrastructure projects planned in West Yorkshire, and will see major changes to a “pinch point” junction between Mirfield and Brighouse.

The £75m project will lead to an enlarged roundabout at Cooper Bridge junction, the widening of Cooper Bridge Road from three lanes to four lanes between Cooper Bridge junction and Bradley junction, modifications to Bradley junction, five new signalised shared use crossings and 2.4km of new segregated cycling facilities.

At a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee on Tuesday, members were asked to approve the next stage in the project – the development of a full business case for the scheme.

A report into the project described the junction as “the corridor with the largest movement of people in the region.

“The scheme seeks to address congestion and to improve journey times and reliability for all users.

“Intelligent traffic management technology will give priority to buses at junctions to improve public transport. Significant upgrades to the infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists in the area will offer healthy active travel modes.”

Officers told the committee there were still a number of issues that needed to be ironed out before work began, including whether to make Oak Road one way. Feedback from a consultation with residents about this element of the proposal is being reviewed.

They said it was normal for a project of this size to have such unresolved issues before it went to a full business case.

The scheme is based in Kirklees, but is on the border with Calderdale.

At the meeting Calderdale Councillor Jane Scullion said: “This is a very big project for both Calderdale and Kirklees. I understand there are still some design tweaks that need to be made, but we strongly support it.”

Members voted to release almost £4m in funding for the development of the full business case.