A row of derelict houses, plots of open land and even parts of households’ front driveways could be purchased by Bradford Council as part of plans to improve some of the district’s worst road junctions.

A £14 million scheme to improve three junctions in Bradford was announced last month, and would see major changes made to the road network at Great Horton Road/Horton Grange Road, Toller Lane/Whetley Hill and Thornton Road/Cemetery Road.

The project, funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, would see a new road built as well as junction improvements, including new turning lanes.

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Now it has been revealed that in order to achieve these changes, a number of properties and plots of land at the different sites will have to be transferred to Council ownership through “compulsory purchase orders.”

It means people may be forced to sell their land to the Council because “voluntary negotiations” would likely lead to the major projects being delayed.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Bradford Council’s Executive will be asked to approve these orders “should acquisition by private treaty fail.”

For the Great Horton Road/Horton Grange Road scheme, the Council will look to purchase the visitor car park for Mumtaz, a grass verge and a piece of land next to Horton Park Centre.

The works at the Great Horton Road/Horton Grange Road junction will include:

The construction of a new road between Horton Park Avenue and Cecil Avenue junction and All Saints Road and Dirkhill Road junction with give way junctions at each end.

• Installation traffic lights at the Great Horton Road and Horton Park Avenue junction.

• Provision of an additional lane on Great Horton Road towards Bradford on the approach to Great Horton Road and Horton and Grange junction.

• Turning All Saints Road one way southbound towards Turner Place.

• Preventing right turns from Great Horton Road into All Saints Road.

For the Thornton Road/Cemetery Road scheme the Council will look to purchase a former kitchen showroom, an area of grassed land at the junction and a strip of land that currently forms part of a number of driveways on Thornton Road.

The works at the Thornton Road/Cemetery Road​ junction will include:

• Providing a right turn lane on Thornton Road towards Cemetery Road.

• Providing two lanes on Thornton Road westbound towards the Cemetery Road junction.

• Providing two lanes on Allerton Road to the Cemetery Road junction.

• Providing two lanes on Cemetery Road through to Allerton Road towards Bradford Girls Grammar.

For the Toller Lane/Whetley Hill works the Council will purchase land at the junction, a block of mostly derelict houses and an area of public open space.

The works at the Toller Lane/Whetley Hill​ junction will include:

• Providing two lanes on A6177 on approach to the junction.

• Creating dedicated left turn lanes from the A6177 to Toller Lane and Whetley Hill.

• Introducing two lanes in both directions on Toller Lane from the Carlisle Road junction to the dual carriageway.

• Widening the approaches to the A6177 on Toller Lane and Whetley Hill to provide a right turn lane.

A report going to the Executive says: “The Council has been in negotiation with landowners and is continuing to do so wherever possible, although it is clear from enquiries, that there is still little or no prospect of all the land being acquired by voluntary negotiations.

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“The success of this programme will depend upon the Council’s ability to acquire all the land needed. There are also risks linked to the timing of land acquisition; as the schemes are each programmed to be started on site by March 2021.

“If the Council continues to rely on current negotiations and only seeks to authorise a CPO if negotiations break down, valuable time would be lost.

“By making a CPO for each highway scheme at this stage, it demonstrates that that the Council is serious in its intentions to promote the proposed highway junction improvement schemes with the support of CPO powers and which in turn, might encourage those whose land is affected to enter into more meaningful negotiations.”

Recommending the Executive approves the use of CPOs, the report says: “The Executive is satisfied that the schemes referred to in this report, being part of the Council’s Corridor Improvement Programme, are in the public interest and that any harm caused by the use of compulsory purchase powers to acquire and interfere with third party land and rights needed for the scheme is outweighed by the public benefits which the improvement schemes will generate.”

Plans to improve the junctions date back several years, but have stalled due to a lack of funding.

Bradford Council had purchased properties on the junction of Thornton Lane and Cemetery Road a number of years ago in preparation of junction works.

These buildings were demolished in 2014, with the land having remained empty since.

The Executive meets in City Hall at 10.30am on Tuesday.