Oakenshaw roadworks ahead of nearby industrial park opening

These include a direct access from Bradford Road to the M606, avoiding the need for vehicles to use the busy Chain Bar roundabout at junction 26 of the M62.

Work is expected to begin shortly on this part of the improvements, which will create a third lane on the Bradford Road approach to Chain Bar, as well as alter the alignment to the junction.

The Bradford Road approach to Chain Bar roundabout (Image: Google Street View)

This must also be completed before any of the units at the new Interchange 26 industrial park can be occupied by tenants, Kirklees Council has confirmed.

It comes as road works are currently ongoing at the junction of Bradford Road and Mill Carr Hill Road, widening the road to better allow HGVs to turn, along with new footpaths.

In addition the Mill Carr Hill Road and Cliff Hollins Lane junction is being altered to give priority to vehicles travelling towards the development site.

Mill Carr Hill Road in Oakenshaw (Image: Newsquest)

The Council has apologised to local residents for the disruption caused by large numbers of contractor vehicles coming and going from the development.

One local resident contacted the Telegraph & Argus after growing concerned about the three-way temporary traffic lights, and increasing numbers of HGVs on what they called “unsuitable roads”.

They called for a safety rail to better protect pedestrians, particularly near Woodlands Primary School.

An aerial view of the former North Bierley waste water treatment works in Oakenshaw (Image: Keyland Developments)

Councillor Naheed Mather, cabinet member for environment, said: “Road safety is at the top of the Council’s priority list and I can confidently say that the highway works being done to support the Interchange 26 development at Oakenshaw have been through all the relevant road safety audits to ensure we are keeping all our road users as safe as possible.

“The grass verge was removed, enabling us to widen the useable footpath to 2m, for part of this the route to school, but the width remains the same under the bridge, with the grass verge separating the footway from the road, which means that the pedestrian guardrail was not needed at this location.

“The road layout has been designed, using technical software, to ensure HGV’s can use this road, and make the turns at the junctions, without impacting the footway.”

And while work on three units on the first part of the site looks to be virtually complete, plans to develop the last piece of the former water treatment works were refused earlier this month amid concerns about an increase in traffic on local roads.