Steeton and Silsden Crossing

Thank you for your query. 

The three options presented range from £1.4m (toucan crossing) to £3.3m (bridge) for the intervention only, or £3.8m to £5.7m if the supplementary interventions to improve access to the crossing are included. 

The underpass will flood occasionally (greater than 1 in 100 years according to the Environmental Agency), therefore there will be an ongoing maintenance cost and occasional closures with this option. 

The costed scheme includes a fully segregated cycle and pedestrian lane on the western side of Keighley Road from the outskirts of Silsden through to the proposed intervention. 

The engagement is designed to gauge opinions on the choice of options without going into too much technical detail – more detailed development work has been undertaken and will be included in the business case submission.

Thank you for your query. If selected, the Toucan crossing will come with supplementary traffic calming measures including a reduced speed limit on the A629 for a stretch in both directions, and a reduction to one lane on the westbound roundabout exit.

Thank you for your query. These issues have been identified and the costed scheme includes a fully segregated cycle and pedestrian lane on Keighley Road from the outskirts of Silsden through to the proposed intervention.

Thank you for your query. The detailed design produced for the OBC does include this important crossing point, consistent with Options 2 and 3. This should have been included in the consultation drawing for Option 1. Please accept our apologies for this mistake.

Thank you for your query. From the point where funding is identified for the scheme it is anticipated that the scheme could be delivered and operational within a timeframe of approximately two years. However, this will be dependent upon the planning application and the Full Business Case (FBC) both being approved. It should also be noted that funding for the scheme has not yet been identified. There could be opportunities to accelerate this (for example by obtaining outline planning permission and producing the majority of the FBC in advance of funding being identified) but this approach has not yet been confirmed.

Thank you for your query. More detailed designs have been produced for all three options as part of the Outline Business Case (OBC) process but these have not yet been made publicly available. The underpass option will provide a fully segregated pedestrian and cycle facility (approximately 5m wide – 2m for peds and 2x1.5m for cycles) under the western arm of the A629 connecting to a new segregated lane on Keighley Road to the north. To the south on Station Road, all three options include a new signalised crossing point to access the station entrance safely.

Thank you for your query. The £700,000 is a pot of money that was provided by the DfT specifically for the development work for this scheme (including the business case). Only a proportion of this has been spent to date to develop the Outline Business Case (OBC). More will be required to produce a Full Business Case (FBC) when a funding source has been identified, but it is currently uncertain whether this will use the full amount provided or not. It should be noted that the business case process is critical in obtaining funding for such schemes. Reasons for this scheme being potentially more expensive than certain other comparators include challenging ground conditions in a high risk flood zone, significant level differences, providing a high quality user experience, and the provision of supporting infrastructure on Station Road and Keighley Road to help users access the intervention (it will not fulfill its potential as a standalone scheme that cannot be easily accessed).

Thank you for your query. Reducing the A629 to one lane in each direction for Option 1 has been considered primarily on safety grounds (less distance for pedestrians to cross). The final design for the OBC reduces the westbound exit to one lane, but maintains two lanes for the eastbound approach to the roundabout – this has been done to avoid creating extra congestion on the approach and hence increasing emissions.