Keighley businesses are celebrating the government go-ahead for a Bingley relief road.

However, plans to upgrade Keigh-ley's congested A650 Hard Ings Road are to be 'scaled down'.

In another development, proposals to improve the A629 Skipton-Kildwick road into a dual-carriageway are also to be downgraded.

The news was among a series of major transport measures announ-ced in the House of Commons by John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minis-ter and Secretary of State for Envir-onment, Transport and the Regions.

Business bosses say a Bingley bypass will help Keighley firms by improving their transport efficiency. Though environmentalists criticised the decision, it received much praise.

Regarding congested Hard Ings Road, there has been a long campaign for improvements. Late last year a huge petition was launched demanding that the road be upgraded into a dual carriageway.

But a spokesman for the Depart-ment of Environment and Transport told us this week: "The Hard Ings Road improvements were dropped in their present form (for a dual carriageway), but safety measures will still be carried out. A solution will be found to help people cross the road safely and prevent the community being severed."

John Prudhoe, chairman of Fibreline, in Hard Ings Road, had strongly objected to the dual-carriageway plan, saying it would damage his business. He is 'delighted' the plan has been dropped.

But he warns: "The problem is not the road, but the roundabouts at each end. The dual carriageway would have threatened the continuation of businesses on the site. But it's no good being delighted until we know what these 'scaled down' solutions are going to be.

"I'm also delighted about the Bingley bypass because that was clearly necessary."

David Petyt, of David Petyt Mens-wear, in Hanover Street, Keighley, is a member of Keighley Business Forum's transport committee. He says: "Hard Ings Road is a difficult issue because it affects houses and businesses. But it does need improving somehow.

"As for the Bingley bypass, that's fantastic news. It will make a big difference to Keighley in terms of time and costs. I just hope we can get it connected to a motorway. I'm also madly in favour of a bypass around Keighley."

Regarding the Kildwick-Skipton link, the Department of Transport says dual-carriageway plans will not go ahead, adding: "Safety will be the key issue, without increasing the capacity for vehicles on the road."

North Yorkshire county councillor Tim Cole, who represents the South Craven area, says: "I would support any proposals for ironing out the bends and making the Cononley Lane end junction safer. But whether a dual-carriageway is needed, I'm not so sure. The difficulty with a dual-carriageway is that it makes traffic travel faster."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.