Multi-million pound bus stations plans announced for Dewsbury and Heckmondwike

Major improvements for Kirklees bus stations are in the pipeline, with Dewsbury and Heckmondwike set to receive major upgrades.

The projects are a collaborative effort between West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Kirklees Council and are funded by the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), which supports sustainable transport initiatives.

Dewsbury bus station will receive a full refurbishment and upgrade by 2025 as part of a £14 million development project which aims to make the station safer and more accessible.

The development of Dewsbury’s bus station, will see the modernisation of its interior and exterior to make it “more attractive and welcoming.”

The corridor between South Street and Aldams Road will be given a glazed canopy roof to make the area “light, bright and welcoming.” Areas of greenery will be added, as will solar panels, LED lighting, and improved CCTV, and the concourse will receive a makeover with a panelled ceiling.

Other features will include new seating, flooring and signage, a customer service desk, upgraded retail units, and a Changing Places facility providing an extra accessible toilet. It is hoped that through these revisions, key issues like anti-social behaviour and a lack of good quality services and accessible facilities will be remedied.

Work on Dewsbury’s bus station is projected to commence in Autumn 2023 with completion in early 2025.

Further, the development of Heckmondwike’s bus station has a current budget of £4.97 million and hopes to address issues such as declining bus use, poor bus user experience, and the climate emergency.

The bus station will be managed by Kirklees Council and will see the number of bus stands increased from four to six, the addition of indoor waiting facilities, accessible Changing Places facilities, a green roof, and solar panels.

Current time scale projections see work commencing in March/April 2023 and completion in April 2024.

The plans were discussed at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel.

In relation to the proposed bus stand increase at Heckmondwike station, Coun Elizabeth Smaje (Birstall and Birkenshaw) raised a question about the practicalities of bus changes amid a current safety concern.

She said: “From parts of North Kirklees you cannot get a bus direct to Dewsbury Hospital, you have to change, even though by car it’s less than 20 minutes away.

"Heckmondwike is one of the points where you can change buses. However, not all buses currently go through the bus hub, so the increase of only two spaces – does that bring all passengers into the new station? Because currently if you’re changing buses, you have to cross a very busy road to get between some of them, ” she added

Tim Fawcett, Kirklees Council’s project manager for Heckmondwike bus station, responded to the Coun Smaje, saying that the extra space would allow for “a significant increase in the amount of movements that can come in and out of that bus hub at any given time.”