Demolition of motorway bridge to start in August
A BRIDGE spanning the M62 in Cleckheaton will be closed from August 16 – cutting Scholes off from Cleckheaton for almost a year.
An exhibition into the demolition scheme was held at Whitcliffe Mount School last week so members of the public could quiz project managers.
The bridge in Whitechapel Road is to be taken down and re-built, but people in Scholes and Cleckheaton are concerned about bus routes and diversions throughout the 10-month scheme. The exhibition was organised to allay people's worries about the arrangements.
Representatives from the Highways Agency, Arriva, designers A-one+ and contractor Lafarge May Gurney answered questions about the 10.5m scheme, which begins in three weeks.
Highways Agency project manager Steve Wright said: "There is an ongoing deterioration with the bridge. It's not unsafe now, but the work needs to be done.
"The exhibition has allowed us to provide information to people about the diversion routes and the free bus service."
"We are being careful to deliver the work in a realistic time scale and are making considerations for the fact that there is asbestos within the bridge. This means we have to carefully consider how we take the bridge down."
During the 42-week closure, there will be a free bus provided by Arriva from 5.30am between Scholes and Cleckheaton. Timetables should be published by the end of the month.
The demolition is expected to take 15 weeks from October, before the embankments are reinforced to cope with the new bridge. Time has also been set aside for another cold winter.
Eric Dyson, of Whitechapel Road, said: "The bus issue seems to be one of the main talking points for people. The positive thing we learned is that there will be a free bus service, which will turn near the Whitcliffe School pavilion."
Motorists will be redirected through Cleckheaton with temporary traffic lights at Moorside and a diverted cycling route through South Parade,
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Weather for Cleckheaton
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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