Work has started in an area of Mixenden to make it safer and more enjoyable to walk, cycle, rest and play outside.
Calderdale Council is transforming the streets around Ash Green Community Primary School to reduce traffic, increase the number of green spaces and help improve air quality for people’s health and climate action.
This project will create new road layouts on Sunnybank Road and Ash Tree Road, with raised crossings and wider pavements slowing down vehicles and creating more space for people walking, cycling, scooting and using wheelchairs and prams. Both roads will become one-way, no-through roads in the long-term, and will be temporarily closed while the works take place, with signed diversions in place. A new raised crossing on Mixenden Road will provide a safer route to the school.
There will be new and improved areas of greenery, ‘rain garden’ verges to provide sustainable and natural drainage, and more trees along streets for natural shade and shelter. This will create a more attractive walking and cycling route, and will help tackle the climate crisis through carbon reduction.
This complements the ‘Community Streets’ work in progress around Ling Bob J, I & N School and Christ Church Primary School in Pellon, to create safer and healthier streets around schools.
Construction started in Mixenden on Monday 13 May 2024 and is due to be complete in August.
Calderdale Council is delivering the project with funding from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, through the Government’s Active Travel Fund.
Cllr Scott Patient, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Housing, said:
“Continuing our investment in north Halifax to help the area thrive for local people, we are making the streets around Ash Green safer and more attractive so that people choose active ways to travel and spend their time, whether that’s walking, cycling, scooting or playing and socialising outside.
“Not only is this great for people’s health and wellbeing, it also benefits our environment by reducing traffic and emissions, using natural drainage and creating more spaces for wildlife to flourish.”
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said:
“We’re on a mission to make it easier and safer for people to walk, cycle, wheel and use public transport in a greener, better-connected West Yorkshire.
“It’s great that work has started on this project – to help improve road safety, reduce congestion and encourage people to choose more sustainable ways to travel.
“Schemes like this are key to delivering on our ambitions for zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2040, as well as becoming a carbon net-zero region by 2038.”
When the works are complete, the Council will start the planned upgrade to the playground on Sunnybank Road. It will be bigger, with modern new play equipment, including a wheelchair-accessible roundabout and adapted swings. There will be places to sit, new trees creating natural shade and shelter, and rain gardens.
The work around Ash Green(external link) is part of the Council’s package of improvements within the Strategic Plan for north Halifax.
The investment in north Halifax supports the Next Chapter for Calderdale to enable economic growth, reduce inequalities and build a sustainable future. For more information about this and other major developments in Calderdale, visit www.calderdalenextchapter.co.uk(external link)
The Next Chapter for Calderdale supports the Vision 2024 for Calderdale to be a place where everyone can live a larger life.
Calderdale reached its 50th anniversary on 1 April 2024. This is the ultimate year for the Vision 2024 for Calderdale. Find out more about it here: www.calderdale.gov.uk/vision
As 2024 closes, the transition to the new Vision 2034 for Calderdale will begin, encouraging local communities to be bold and ambitious about what we can do next to make Calderdale a better place for all.