By Daniel Wood – KLTV Contributor
Almost £2m is being pumped into improving Canalside paths in West Yorkshire with an aim to support walkers, cyclists, people with pushchairs and those who require mobility aids.
The towpath of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is the target and the changes will allow commuters between Slaithwaite and Huddersfield to have a much more pleasurable experience on the route.
The upgrade in Kirklees is aimed to create “a much more usable towpath” from Slaithwaite into the centre of Huddersfield. It will provide an off-road, traffic-free alternative to the busy main road running five miles through the valley.
In the long-term, the aim is to upgrade and improve the towpath all the way to Standedge Tunnel in Marsden. That is a further 2.7 miles.
The money was secured by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), a group of leading councillors and officers from West Yorkshire councils, plus York.
The work will be carried out by the waterways charity Canal & River Trust.
Work will commence in the spring of 2021 and enhancements will include, laying a new towpath surface and improving access by changing the angle of slopes near locks to make them less steep, and lifting and re-laying cobbles to make them smoother.
The improvements will be made in two sections: between the Britannia Road Bridge, Slaithwaite and the bridge on Low Westwood Lane, and then from there to Library Lock in Milnsbridge.
Cllr Martyn Bolt (Conservative, Mirfield), an advocate for active travel on the region’s greenway system, said the new plans did not reveal strategy on how to link the sections of existing cycle route/ greenway.
He asked: “Can canal towpaths cater for the volume and mix of users? And is the route accessible or is it an end-to-end journey only as the section from Huddersfield to Milnsbridge is?”
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal began in 1794 and was completed in 1811. It runs for 20 miles from Lock 1E (Huddersfield University’s Canalside Buildings) to Ashton-under-Lyne, through 74 locks.
The canal also includes Britain’s longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel, Standedge Tunnel, at three miles long.