A new road is proposed for West Yorkshire's busiest shopping, leisure and business park to cope with the thousands of people who flock there at weekends.

Kirklees Council chiefs say traffic congestion at the Centre 27/Spring Ram complex in Birstall next to the M62 has been a regular occurrence at weekends since IKEA opened three years ago.

Before then, they say, the traffic mayhem was confined to the run-up to Christmas, partly because of the popularity of stores such as Toys R Us.

Planning officer Edward Wills said: "To date the only official route into and out of the retail site has been via Holden Ing Way. Unofficial use has been made of a private link road connecting Holden Ing Way with Oakwell Way as a means of getting to and from the A62.

"Although this has been very useful as an 'escape route' at congested times, it could not be regarded as a suitable alternative to Holden Ing Way, particularly for motorway and Leeds-bound traffic."

Now the Council is planning to build 115 metres of new road between the roundabout junction at the end of Oakwell Way and Gelderd Road. The heavy woollen area planning sub-committee is being asked tomorrow to give planning approval.

Adrian Worth, manager at IKEA, said: "The new road will make an enormous difference, especially at weekends when it gets very busy."

And Nick Whitehead, deputy manager at Toys R Us, said: "Anything that helps to ease congestion at this retail park is to be welcomed.''

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