WORK on an unfinished cycle path from Shipley to Bradford that had been branded a "standing joke" by some residents is set to resume next week.

Bradford Council has confirmed £260,000 will be spent to complete the "missing link" on the Canal Road Greenway, providing a direct, traffic-free route between the Aire Valley and the city centre.

Once the ten-week project is complete, the path will form part of the National Cycle Route 66, which also includes the Spen Valley Greenway, Airedale Greenway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The Council's Public Health Fund is committing £100,000 towards the scheme, with the other £160,000 provided by a capital release from the sale of Leeds Bradford International Airport.

Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council's executive member for transport, said: "It is excellent news that the path will soon be finished and open in time for the start of summer.

"It will give cyclists the chance to travel down a safe route that can take them from Shipley into Bradford city centre.

"It should encourage far more people to use this path once it’s completed.”

Construction work on the project started in 2013, but stalled when contaminated ground was found in old allotments on the proposed route between Poplar Road and Gaisby Lane.

The Greenway route has now been altered to avoid any of the affected areas, and the contamination will be left undisturbed and sealed into the ground to mitigate any risks to people using the new path, or to the nearby Bradford Beck.

Work on the path is expected to be completed in April, giving walkers and cyclists an uninterrupted route from Carnegie Drive in Shipley, to Stanley Road, near Arnold Laver in Canal Road.

Keen cyclist Rhys Stead, 40, who has lived on Poplar Crescent, Shipley, for the past ten years, contacted the Telegraph & Argus in November to say residents had been left "disillusioned" by the lack of progress with the scheme."

He said cyclists and walkers had been mystified when they found the path coming to an abrupt end near to his home, forcing them to turn back.

"A lot of us were worried that the path would never get finished, so it is great that funding has been found to complete the project," he said.

"The scheme obviously needed a push, but I think cyclists will be happy to see a route all the way through to Bradford.

"If it is traffic-free it will be safe for children, and it will nice to hopefully have it ready for sunny days in the spring and summer."

The new route has been developed with cycling charity Sustrans, and its regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, Paul Osborne, said the charity was "delighted" to be a partner in the scheme.

"The public health investment in this project is an endorsement of the significant health benefits that walking and cycling can bring," he said.

"We look forward to working with Bradford Council and developing similar routes in the future."