A booming economy and an increasing population would justify a traffic-busting tunnel underneath Shipley, the consultants behind the Airedale Masterplan said today.

Mike Osborne, of consultant Arup which has drafted the blueprint for the future, said the tunnel scheme would not be implemented until public opinion had turned in its favour.

Mr Osborne said the tunnel - which has been planned in the past and has caused major controversy - would stretch from the A650 at Nab Wood to Canal Road.

But he stressed the importance of the construction of a Shipley Eastern Link Road which would link Frizinghall to Baildon, bypassing Shipley.

Councillor Martin Love (Green, Shipley) said plans to build a Shipley bypass should be scrapped and public transport improved instead.

As reported in yesterday's Telegraph & Argus, the link road is seen as one of five "priority projects" which would help transform Airedale into a world-leading centre for digital communications by 2020. Mr Osborne said: "The link road is about opening up brown-field land and it's very important from an environmental point of view.

"Currently there is insufficient demand to meet a tunnel so there's no point looking at a tunnel now. There is much more value out of getting a Shipley Eastern Link Road as it would start to release land and help property values. If all the other things work and demand rises in the area and the price of tunnelling keeps coming down, then the tunnel idea could perhaps be justified."

But Coun Love said: "What we'd want money used for would be better public transport rather than road schemes.

"The link road would only move congestion on to Frizing-hall and it would become its problem."

It is proposed to turn Canal Road from Frizinghall to the city centre into a dual carriageway. Also earmarked for dual carriageway is heavily-congested Hard Ings Road in Keighley.

"That needs to happen almost immediately to complete the relief road through Airedale," said Mr Osborne.

The Masterplan was commissioned by private-sector led Airedale Partnership.

Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward provided £475,000 to put it together.

It includes radical proposals to regenerate Bingley, Keighley and Shipley and enhance the environment, transport links and leisure facilities across Airedale.