LONG-AWAITED plans for a one-way system to ease congestion in Keighley town centre will go before the town’s area committee next week.

A report to members says that despite a number of minor interventions to improve traffic flow, a more radical approach to solve congestion in the town was needed.

Bradford Council highways officers have come up with proposals for a clockwise one-way system using East Parade, Hanover Street and Cavendish Street.

The system would also involve banning right turns into Bradford Road from Gresley Road and Low Mill Lane, and from Coney Lane into East Parade, creating new pedestrian crossings and introducing a 20mph speed limit and a number of other traffic management measures.

Proposals also include alternative parking layouts in Cavendish Street and Hanover Street, and altering signal times to improve traffic flow at other locations on the approaches to the town centre.

If Keighley Area Committee, which meets at Keighley Town Hall on January 22, supports the continued development of the scheme, public consultation will begin in March.

The outcome of the consultation will go back to Keighley Area Committee in the summer.

It is proposed that the £1.4 million scheme, funded from money secured by the council from the former Regional Transport Board for strategic transport projects and through the West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan, could be implemented next year, depending on the outcome of the public consultation.

The committee report also says that further improvements, including the widening of the railway bridge in Bradford Road, could be considered in the future, potentially using money from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund.

Area committee chairman and Keighley Central ward councillor, Khadim Hussain, said: "This issue has been going on for a long time but we are determined to work out the best way of improving traffic flow in Keighley. This scheme seems to offer a practical way forward in the short-term.

"We are also looking at other options to try and find a long-term answer for the future.”

Cllr Val Slater, Bradford Council’s executive member for housing, planning and transport, said: "Officers have worked hard on this scheme and we have been able to access the necessary resources by establishing Keighley town centre as a priority for regional transport funding.

"I believe it offers the most practical way to help alleviate Keighley’s traffic problems.

"If members of the Keighley Area Committee give it their support we can get things moving as quickly as possible.”