PEOPLE have been urged to have their say over plans to reduce through-traffic in three areas of the Bradford district.

An Active Travel Neighbourhood (ATN) is proposed for Barkerend, Saltaire and Frizinghall. It aims to create a safer and quieter environment for those who live, work or visit the areas by removing through-traffic from the area.

ATNs are areas where a number of point closures are introduced on residential side streets to prevent non-local traffic from using these streets to cut through an area.

In Barkerend, the number of child casualties caused by road traffic accidents is almost double the city average with Upper Seymour Street/Browning Street/Amberley Street/Harewood Street and Gulpin Street still being used as cut-throughs by motorists. Life expectancy for Bowling and Barkerend residents is also lower than the district average.

In Saltaire, traffic modelling on the village's roads, including Tower Road and Caroline Street, has shown that up to 30 per cent of of traffic is of vehicles travelling through the area. Analysis of Google Maps show sat-navs routinely encourage vehicles to use residential streets in the area, including Caroline Street, to cut journey times.

In Frizinghall, Bradford Council believes that the area between Canal Road, Bradford Road, Wharncliffe Road and Frizinghall Road would benefit from measures to create an ATN which would improve the general environment.

Councillor Mohammed Amran (Lab, Heaton) has backed the scheme for Frizinghall and has called for more streets to be added.

He said: "This is a brilliant idea. We want more people to walk and cycle to school.

"These are temporary closures and it would stop a lot of rat running. It encourages people not to drive to school to drop their kids off."

Cllr Martin Love (Green, Shipley) said: "Through traffic has been a problem in Saltaire and the surrounding areas for years.

"It is a combination of volume and speed and a lot of it is due to through traffic."

The Department for Transport unveiled a second round of funding, called the Active Travel Fund (ATF), in November last year to enable local authorities to create high-quality, longer-term cycling and walking infrastructure.

Bradford Council has secured £2m from the ATF to put in place a series of traffic measures, including cycle lanes, new cycle parking facilities and ATNs.

The local authority has launched a public consultation for people to have their say on the proposal.

After this public consultation, the trial ATNs would be installed within six months. If implemented, the ATN areas would be in place for six months so the public can get used to them.

The ATN has a number of aims including reducing the number of vehicles travelling along residential streets and reducing the speed of vehicles in an area.

A council spokesman said: “There is lots of evidence that active travel is good for children’s physical and mental health and learning.

“It also benefits the broader community’s health and helps to tackling obesity.

“Active travel will reduce traffic congestion and improves air quality making local areas more pleasant.

“Encouraging active travel is also one of the ways the council can contribute to reducing global greenhouse gases and tackling climate change.

“Most pupils live within a short distance of their primary school so it is easy for them to walk to school.

“The council is very interested to know what local people think about their neighbourhoods and whether they could benefit from our active travel proposals.

“We would like to encourage as many people as possible to take part in the consultation and engage in how their area may change in the future.”

The public consultation ends on Tuesday, August 17.

Go to activetravelbradford.commonplace.is for more information. To provide feedback or ideas on the proposals, email info@activetravelbradford.co.uk, call 0808 196 9119 or Freepost BFD Highways.