City of Bradford Metropolitan Council has announced that the next phase of the ambitious plans to regenerate the city are set to begin this summer.
The work will focus on transforming the look and feel of the city centre, whilst also building on the architectural legacy of the city. Work will begin on the 10th July and is being delivered as part of a scheme from Bradford Council, in partnership with West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Through WYCA’s Transforming Cities Fund, the work will also seek to make it easer for people to get round Bradford on foot, by bike, or using public transport.
Work is also coming ahead of the celebrations of Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture in 2025, with this bringing a series of new public spaces alongside the modernisation of existing pedestrian spaces. These will include high-quality paving and landscaping, new green areas, planting and setting, as well as improvements that will make spaces that are more suitable for public events and gatherings for families.
Regarding transport, February 2024 will see bus services move around the heart of the city thanks to rerouting, meaning that more public spaces can be created as well as helping to avoid congestion hotspots. This will improve the reliability of services, adding to the measures that are being taken to make public transport travel more attractive, helping to reduce traffic.
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, said:
“We are ambitious for Bradford District, both in terms of driving the economy and seeing Bradford become one of the UK’s most vibrant and sustainable cities.
“Bradford has the potential to have one of the most attractive, accessible, and dynamic city centres in the country and we are confident this scheme will deliver that. People will see a transformed city centre that they want to visit when the works are complete.”
The work will take place in two phases, with the first phase seeing work taking place on the roads and pavements around the city centre. The new bus routes around the city centre will be created through this phase, ahead of the rerouting of the services in February 2024.
The second phase of the work will begin in 2024, with new public spaces, as well as walking and cycling routes, being created in the heart of Bradford. The vast majority of this work is expected to be completed right in time for the celebrations of Bradford’s City of Culture status in 2025.
Over the course of just over 18 months, the city centre will see works to a scale that was unprecedented across the district in recent decades. Speaking about the work, Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said:
“We are investing millions of pounds to transform Bradford.
“And making it easier for people to get around by walking, cycling, and using public transport is a huge part of our journey towards creating a more inclusive and better-connected region.
“This is a great example of how we are making the city an even better place to live, work and visit in the run-up to its year as UK City of Culture in 2025.”
Image credit: iStock
