Drivers could be stopped from using a residential street to avoid a major roundabout.

A traffic calming proposal has been drawn up by the Department of Transport to ban drivers from turning right from Hirst Lane on to the A650 Bingley Road near the Saltaire roundabout.

Traffic would also be banned from turning right from the A650 into Hirst Lane.

The scheme was stipulated as a condition when the planning application to open The Tramshed bar and restaurant next to the roundabout was passed.

Councillor Martin Love (Green, Shipley) said the proposal would be welcomed as numerous residents in the area had complained to him about vehicles avoiding the roundabout and causing a hazard.

He said: "It seems very sensible because vehicles wanting to turn right at that point on Bingley Road could potentially block traffic and lead to it queuing back to the roundabout causing major problems.

"Also cars turning right from Hirst Lane on to Bingley Road have to cut across the traffic and this can cause queues going back towards Bingley and can also be dangerous as they turn because they are hidden between queuing vehicles."

There have already been major changes to the A650 in the area with work underway to extend the bus lane on the Bradford-bound carriageway between Nab Wood and the Saltaire roundabout.

Bradford Council chiefs admitted earlier this year that more than 2,000 vehicles were gridlocking Saltaire since the opening of the £47.9 million Bingley Relief Road.

A Bradford Council spokesman said the work could be carried out by its workers on behalf of the Highways Agency by the end of summer.

l Anyone wanting to object to the proposal should write by July 2 to the director, The Highways Agency, Eighth Floor West, City House, New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 4UR, quoting reference HA 41/7/153.

The plan can be viewed at Shipley Town Hall, Kirkgate, or at Bradford Council's department of transportation, design and planning in Micklethwaite Lane, Crossflatts.

e-mail: ian.briggs

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