VIDEO - work starts on £33m link road on east side of Wakefield

This is what a new by-pass on the east side of Wakefield will look like after a £33m transport project is completed.
Wakefield Eastern Relief RoadWakefield Eastern Relief Road
Wakefield Eastern Relief Road

A video released by Wakefield Council gives a computer-generated view of the Eastern Relief Road, part of plans to build 2,500 homes.

Building work on the £5.5km link road started today.

It is the first project to be paid for from a £1bn transport fund made available by the government.

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Infrastructure projects are being funded as part of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal.

Peter Box, Wakefield Council leader and chairman of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said the new road would help create tens of thousands of jobs.

He said: “The benefits the new Wakefield Eastern Relief Road will deliver are in line with the Combined Authority’s and LEP’s shared aims is of creating an environment where businesses can grow, 62,000 new, good quality jobs can be created, and young people can find a job or training opportunity.”

The road is being built by Wakefield Council and will provide a link around the city from Aberford Road in the north to Doncaster Road in the south.

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The council said it would reduce traffic congestion by providing an alternative route avoiding the city centre and giving direct access to the M62.

The road, which will cross the Wakefield Kirkgate to Normanton railway line and River Calder on new bridges, is expected to be opened to traffic in Spring 2017.

Footpaths linking to the Trans-Pennine Trail will run alongside and new woodland and wetlands to attract wildlife and space for public seating and art will be created, Wakefield Council said.

The road will run through an area of land which will be developed into a new housing development called City Fields.

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David Dagger, the council’s cabinet member for transport and highways, said: “By providing a new, direct connection between Doncaster Road and Aberford Road, this project will have a real impact on reducing numbers of journeys which currently have to be made through Wakefield city centre for local residents and, importantly, local businesses needing to get onto the motorway network.”