ANGER has been voiced after it was revealed the cost of a long-awaited planned footbridge over a busy main road has soared.

Latest estimates put the price tag for the scheme, which will enable pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the A629 between Silsden and Steeton, at around £24 million.

When the proposal for a desperately-needed bridge spanning the dual carriageway was first mooted more than a decade ago, the cost was only a few million – and just earlier this year, £9m was being stated.

But a meeting on Thursday (October 31) of West Yorkshire Combined Authority will hear that the project now needs to be split into two phases, due to insufficient funding for the whole thing.

Phase one ­– expected to cost £12,920,060 – will include the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A629, a 'toucan' crossing on the A6034, and pedestrian and cycle paths.

Funding will come from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – Government cash awarded to West Yorkshire as part of the area’s devolution deal.

But phase two, which will include an additional one-and-a half miles of pedestrian and cycle paths between Steeton and Silsden and more road crossings, won't be delivered until extra cash is made available. Its anticipated cost is £11m.

Keighley MP Robbie Moore has hit out at the spiralling bill for the scheme.

"When I heard the £24m figure I thought Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority must be having a laugh," he says.

"It had to be a joke.

"How on earth a relatively simple project can in the space of just a few years increase from £3.6 million to £24 million is beyond me. And not only that, we now have no completion date for the whole scheme.

"All we want is a safe crossing over an exceptionally busy dual carriageway, before someone gets killed. It seems to me that heads need banging together."

Combined authority members will be asked at the meeting to approve the progression of the scheme to a business case. If it goes ahead, work is expected to start onsite in April, 2026, and take a year.

A report to members says: "The scheme aims to address a significant issue of community severance between the settlements of Steeton and Silsden, caused by the A629, which features very high daily traffic flows and a 70mph speed limit.

"The more ambitious option is to provide a pedestrian and cycle bridge with complementary walking and cycling connectivity improvements along key routes in Steeton and Silsden.

"However current available funding is insufficient to deliver the whole scheme, so the preferred option is to deliver the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A629 and an associated pedestrian and cycle crossing on the A6034. The wider improvements in the more ambitious option would be brought forward as a second phase of the scheme when further funding can be secured."

A statement from the Craven ward’s three Green councillors – Janet Russell, Neil Whitaker and Caroline Whitaker – said: “Local residents have been promised this bridge for a long time now and we have been pushing both Bradford Council and the combined authority for action.

“Unfortunately, there is still a distinct lack of detail of the bridge design and how this will connect with existing pedestrian and cycling routes. It's really important for members of the public, and their local representatives, to be involved in the consultation process to make sure the design works for the community. While we welcome this news regarding the first phase, we note that the combined authority is still not committing to fund the second phase, which is for improvements to the wider pedestrian and cycling connections.”

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw – Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration, planning and transport – says: “We know that reaching this stage has taken more time than what was initially envisaged, but getting the outline business case approved will be an important milestone for the project.

"We understand any delays are frustrating for local residents, however the initial designs for the bridge have had to be completely revised to ensure that they comply with the latest accessibility guidance. The main elements of this mean that the bridge needs to be wider and the ramp lengths on approaches had to be increased which has meant that third party land negotiations had to take place.

"The previous public consultation gave us a clear indication that a bridge is what is wanted at this location, and we encourage the local communities to continue to actively engage with the scheme through the next round of public consultation and have their say and help to shape the final proposals."