Authority approves extra £30m towards green infrastructure

Regional leaders have approved plans to invest a further £30m towards green transport and housing infrastructure in West Yorkshire.

Proposals went before a full West Yorkshire Combined Authority meeting for major improvements to cycling and bus infrastructure the busiest roads, as well as a home energy retrofit scheme which could benefit homes across the region.

West Yorkshire Council chiefs heard how the £20m Wakefield Road Bus and Cycle Priority Corridor will move one step closer to delivery.

The scheme focuses on a two-kilometre stretch of the A650 from Croft Street to Dudley Hill in Bradford, and will deliver new bus lanes, as well as upgraded facilities and extra real-time information displays at 14 bus stops.

The work, funded by the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, will create a 1.7-kilometre stretch of new segregated cycle paths on Wakefield Road, provide new pedestrian and cycle crossings and includes plans to fill in a subway.

In addition, decision-makers committed an extra £10m towards the Home Energy West Yorkshire programme.

Pledged by Mayor Tracy Brabin in her election manifesto, this will be a “retrofit one-stop-shop” where residents and homeowners can receive tailored advice and support with making their homes greener and cheaper to heat.

The One Stop Shop is intended to help ease the financial barriers that stop households from fitting green energy saving measures, by connecting residents with available grants, incentives, financing options as well as the planning and the installation of the retrofit measures.

This will make it easier for people to “go green” and save on energy bills.

Brabin said: “While work is ongoing to create a West Yorkshire Mass Transit Network and bring our buses back under public control, there is so much more we are doing behind the scenes to keep the region moving.

“As well as promoting bus and cycle travel on these important routes, we’re also kickstarting a home energy revolution, helping to cut household energy bills and deliver sustainable energy for generations to come.

“We’re here to deliver on our promises and take the long-term decisions we need to build a greener, better-connected West Yorkshire.”