PLANS TO resurface two roundabouts in Keighley have been slammed by Keighley Town Council’s transport chief.

Mick Westerman fears the repair work to the Crossflatts and Marley roundabouts on busy weekends in November will bring unnecessary chaos to the local road network.

He claims the project – which includes closing the Aire Valley trunk road between Crossflatts and Victoria Park – has not been thought through.

Coun Westerman said: “The work add to a major bottleneck in Keighley.

“Traffic through the town centre is already chock-a-block on Saturday – it’s going to be horrendous.

“People who come to Keighley one weekend will not come again – that’s a massive loss of trade. Why can’t they do the work overnight?”

Coun Westerman, chairman of the town council’s watch and transport committee, welcomed improvements to the roundabouts but suggested other road surfaces in Keighley were in a worse condition.

He was responding to an announcement by Bradford Council that it planned to resurface three roundabouts on the A650 at Marley (Aireworth Road junction) in Keighley, Crossflatts, and Cottingley.

Andy Hargreaves, the council’s senior engineer for major maintenance, said contractors were available to begin work from the weekend of November 1 and 2.

Contractors are confident they can complete the Cottingley and Crossflatts roundabouts in one weekend each, by working Saturdays and Sundays. The Keighley roundabout is likely to take three days over two weekends.

During the Crossflatts work, the bypass will be closed between Cottingley and Keighley in one direction each day. Diverted traffic will travel along the B6265 Bradford Road and Keighley Road.

When the Marley roundabout is being resurfaced, the road will be closed between Crossflatts and the Victoria Park roundabout in Keighley, and traffic will be diverted along the B6265 Bradford Road and Keighley Road.

Access will be maintained to Marley Activity Centre with traffic lights from Aireworth Road.

Mr Hargreaves said: “I am mindful we are getting closer to the Christmas shopping window, but subject to favourable weather we should be complete before the end of November.

“The works will not be diverging traffic away from Keighley and Bingley town centres.”

Mr Hargreaves said night working was not feasible because houses and hotels were too close to the roundabouts to allow contractors to meet noise regulations.

He added: “Restricting the works to just Sundays would mean they would take at least 12 weeks, taking us into less favourable weather and temperatures.”