Road misery for motorists as £1.65m resurfacing works prompt closures and lengthy diversions

Critics have questioned the wisdom of embarking on the changes when the area around Cooper Bridge is soon to be the focus of a £70m revamp that includes a big new roundabout and changes to Bradley Road junction.

Work on that project – known as the A62 to Cooper Bridge Corridor Improvement Scheme – could begin as soon as 2024 when the highway will be dug up again.

Beginning on Monday, October 11 highways chiefs are to close Leeds Road at Bradley, from the junction with Bradley Road to the Kirklees Council boundary at Cooper Bridge.

From the opposite direction they will close Leeds Road (at the Kirklees Council boundary) to Stocks Bank Road in Mirfield.

Also affected at Bradley Junction will be Bradley Road, Lower Quarry Road, the A644 Huddersfield Road and the B6118 Colne Bridge Road.

Work costing £1.65m will be carried out from 7pm to 6am on weekdays and all day on Sundays. Saturdays will not be affected.

There will be “localised daytime lane closures” to facilitate ironwork replacement.

A 20mph speed limit will be introduced for the route between Bradley Road to Stocks Bank Road.

The scale of the roadworks means lengthy diversions have been created.

Traffic travelling from Bradley Road towards Cooper Bridge will be re-routed via the unaffected part of Leeds Road into Huddersfield and then along the A641 Bradford Road to the Bradley Bar Roundabout, down to Brighouse and along the A644 – passing under the M62 at Junction 25 – to Cooper Bridge.

Traffic travelling from Cooper Bridge into Huddersfield will be expected to use the reverse of that route, which will add nine-and-a-half miles onto journey times.

Traffic leaving Stocks Bank Road at Mirfield and heading towards Cooper Bridge will be taken on another long diversion – more than 11 miles – via the A649 Halifax Road at Liversedge into Hightown, Hartshead and eventually down Clifton Common to Brighouse, up to Bradley and down the unaffected part of the A62 Leeds Road to Cooper Bridge.

Kirklees Council says pedestrian access will be maintained “at all times”.

The timing of the works has been criticised by Coun Martyn Bolt (Con, Mirfield), who urged highways chiefs to reconsider “spending such amounts of money on the A62 when it could be usefully spent on other Kirklees roads and last for longer.”

Coun Bolt said the resurfacing would cause unnecessary disruption even though the majority of work would be carried out at night-time.

Kirklees Council was approached to comment.

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