Blueprints for Saltaire's £139 million bypass, which could be introduced within ten years, have been fiercely opposed on their first public outing.

Around 30 worried residents and local councillors said they were concerned about the environmental impact and the potential for increased traffic when they met in the village.

A preliminary route for the bypass includes tunnels beneath Shipley town centre and Saltaire. Entrances to a tunnel at the World Heritage Site would intrude on the conservation zone along the Airedale valley bottom.

The plan is to create a more integrated transport system in Airedale. The earliest date for work to construct the bypass would be 2015.

Plans to get rid of Saltaire roundabout, one of the busiest across the district, and replace it with traffic lights at an estimated cost of £2.6 million were also addressed.

Steve Barton, head of major works at Bradford Council, gave an overview of plans, which he presented at the launch of Action Airedale last month, at the forum meeting at Saltaire Methodist Church.

Action Airedale is a group set up with the aid of Bradford Council to campaign for better transport in Airedale.

Answering residents' concerns, Mr Barton said: "It is a concept we will investigate.

"There is an awful lot of work to do and it is too early to say if it is the right approach or not. We are not committed to building this."

One resident said: "How would a bypass regenerate the area? And how can you justify taking away natural areas?"

In response, Mr Barton said: "The Council has recognised an opportunity to bring more jobs to Airedale, but this can only happen if improvements are made to the infrastructure to get people and goods to and from businesses.

"It is difficult to do this without there being some impact on the environment, but we will try and minimise it."

Another resident said: "It is lunacy to bring more cars to Saltaire. This is just moving traffic problems elsewhere."

Mr Barton said: "Low-grade studies at this stage have shown that putting in a bypass would not overload the highways elsewhere."

Outside the meeting, leader of the council's Green party, Councillor Martin Love (Shipley) said the idea was "flawed".

He said: "The design is extremely dubious and it is not sure to take enough traffic away from Saltaire. It won't be able to hold the capacity of traffic they are suggesting.

"We should be trying to discourage motorists from using the area as a way from Leeds central region to Lancashire - we have a motorway network for that. Local roads should be for local traffic."

Mr Barton reported the plans for Saltaire roundabout would not impact on the built environment but road boundaries may have to be extended onto the current Shell petrol station site on the A650, subject to negotiations with Shell UK. Construction could begin in 2009.

Work on a Shipley Eastern Link Road and on Canal Road are also being considered as part of the new plans.

Mr Barton said: "We are trying to get better rail services, with integrated timetables between buses and trains, and to make it easier for buses to get through traffic.

"The intention is to create a more attractive route for commuters by integrating the bus and train networks and to encourage people not to use their cars."

The next stage of the transport plans will be an environmental impact study for the Eastern Link Road. No date has been set for the public consultation process.