Local MP Robbie Moore has held a personal debate in parliament on the long-awaited construction of a footbridge over the A629 dual carriageway between Steeton and Silsden, urging local authorities to “get on with it”.
The Keighley MP criticised Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority for continuous delay in completing the initial feasibility study for the project which took four years to complete and for their inaccuracies in cost estimates for the project, calling the developments “unbelievable”.
WYCA were initially awarded £700,000 by the government in 2016 to perform a feasibility study for the project, however the study was completed four years later with WYCA’s initial £3.6 million costing for the bridge rising to a whopping £10.3 million in 2022.
Mr Moore urged both authorities to accelerate the project with urgency, adding that Bradford Council and WYCA were “sitting on millions of pounds” of taxpayers money. Mr Moore outlined his frustration that despite the government allocating funds for the bridge, local authorities continued to dither and delay, all whilst on a day to day basis his constituents were taking their lives in their hands every time they attempted to cross the busy dual carriageway between Silsden and Steeton.
Responding to Mr Moore’s calls to accelerate the project, Minister for Transport Richard Holden said there had been a “clear hiatus” during the tenure of Keighley’s former Labour MP, adding that the local Labour authorities should he “held to account” for failing to deliver the project on time and vowing to raise the issue with both local authorities.
Speaking after the debate, Robbie Moore MP said:
“Residents in Steeton and Silsden have been waiting far too long for this bridge to be built. It is high time Labour-run Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority get their act together and stop delaying this project.
Our local Labour-run authorities are sitting on millions of pounds of taxpayers money and their sluggish, lack-lustre approach is infuriating. Money has been given to them to build the bridge by our Conservative government and their dither and delay is incredibly frustrating, all while constituents who need to cross the busy dual carriageway continue to take their life into their own hands every time they attempt to make the crossing.”
It is unbelievable it took our local Labour-run authorities 4 years to complete their initial feasibility study, and that it was only released in 2020, after I chased for it. What an earth have they been doing, and what on earth was our former Labour MP doing at the time to put pressure on them?
I am glad that the Minister acknowledged the importance holding our local authorities to account and will now be in contact with both Authorities to push for its construction to be accelerated.“
Time is of the essence and it’s about time that they got their act together and get this bridge built."
