Anger over roadworks delay at one of Halifax's major junctions

Andrew Tagg says the time being taken to make improvements to pedestrian walkways and railings at King Cross was “unacceptable.”

Mr Tagg said the works in the area – including the major A58 Aachen Way/Rochdale Road and A646 Burnley Road junction – have disrupted people’s lives, regularly witnessed by him as a cyclist commuting daily on the route.

The former Conservative councillor, who represented Skircoat ward when he was on Calderdale Council, has asked the new leader of the authority, Coun Jane Scullion, to investigate why the project has taken so long.

He said: “It has now run well over six months, during which time there has been numerous periods of no activity, including the last two weeks, even though the scheme appears to be close to completion.

“I have had to negotiate the squeezes of two lanes into one caused by the construction, which frustrated drivers whom under such circumstances don’t always take care.”

Responding to the complaint, Coun Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said she was sorry for inconvenience work caused but it was important, forming part of A646 and A58 corridor improvement programmes – a major gateway route in and out of Halifax through the Ryburn Valley, to and from the M62, and the Calder Valley to and from Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.

These looked to improve cycle and pedestrian facilities around the King Cross junction area, with work in three places:

• A new crossing and construction of an off-road shared cycle and pedestrian route on Rochdale Road, linking round to Burnley Road;

• A new crossing facility at the Burnley Road/Warley Road junction linking across to shared cycle and pedestrian routes into King Cross centre;

• A new crossing at end of Skircoat Moor Road with road widening outside Halifax Fire Station.

Traffic management on Rochdale Road originally reduced the junction entry to one lane while the path construction took place, she said.

Coun Scullion said a small section of highway remained barriered off in the single-lane section, with traffic diverted into the central hatched area for a short length before the highway widened into two lanes.

This was to provide a drop-off and pick-up area for materials at what is a very “constrained” group of sites, she said.

“While at times you may not have witnessed any construction activity along Rochdale Road this may be because the gang may have been working at one of the other sites,” she added.

“Unfortunately these works have taken longer than we would have liked.

“This has been partly due to delays we have experienced with the contractor carrying out the works and more recently due to delays with utilities diversions – electricity and telecommunications – that require to be done during the build,” she replied to Mr Tagg.

Coun Scullion said that engineers had met with contractors who expected traffic management would be removed by June 2.

But Mr Tagg said that several periods of “little to no” activity remained unclarified and he would have expected a ‘prompter completion’.