Calderdale Royal Hospital will hand over land for a road widening scheme.
A landscaped section just outside one of of its car parks has been earmarked as part of Calderdale Council ’s jam-busting roads project.
The council has asked Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to let it take a strip of its Drycough Lane car park.
If the hospital refuses the council says it will do a compulsory purchase order, forcing the trust to release the land.
Calderdale Council said the land was needed to create a new left-turn lane as part of the larger scheme to widen the A629 through Salterhebble.
Several businesses on Salterhebble Hill revealed last year that they would be forced to close after their premises were compulsorily purchased.
They will be demolished to allow extra lanes to be formed at the traffic bottle neck on the way into Halifax.
Drawings produced for the scheme show the council will use the grassed area in front of the hospital’s car park from the junction at Huddersfield Road to the main entrance on the A646 Dryclough Lane.
Trees will have to be removed to allow the work to go ahead.
LOOK at traffic along Calderdale Way below
No car parking spaces will be lost.
The Trust’s associate director of estates, David McGarrigan said: “This compulsory purchase – backed by our Trust – will improve the roads system and access to CRH for our patients and their families and visitors and there are no plans to further develop that side of the hospital for more parking spaces.”
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, Clr Barry Collins, said: “ Calderdale Council has funding earmarked from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to progress plans for major highway works to improve the A629 Huddersfield Road corridor from Jubilee Road through to Shaw Hill in Halifax.
“The land needed on Dryclough Lane is related to these improvements, and plans for this road include the widening of the existing carriageway and the inclusion of an additional left turn lane designed to reduce congestion at the junction with the A629.
“Since the original plans were approved, officers have been working on the detailed design of the scheme and as a result the precise land now needed has altered.
“The scheme will not reduce the number of car parking spaces at the hospital.”
Documents produced for Calderdale councillors claim less than £600,000 of council cash has been spent on buying land from residents and businesses, including the hospital, around Salterhebble.
It comes amid controversial hospital shake-up which would see Calderdale Royal extended at some point in the next few years.
Clr Barry Collins said: “The A629 provides an essential link between Halifax and the M62 motorway and we know it is used by over 40,000 vehicles daily.
“As anyone who regularly travels along the route will be aware, this is already a busy, and frequently congested, part of the network. Without improvements this will only well get worse, as research has shown that the existing capacity will not keep pace with the predicted population and economic growth.
“The planned improvements will tackle congestion, reduce journey times and improve traffic-related pollution, benefitting local residents, visitors and businesses and driving economic prosperity in our towns.”
The scheme will improve access to Copley, Sowerby Bridge and Halifax, making sites on the route more attractive for potential investment by businesses and boosting local employment opportunities.
It may also lead to additional express bus services linking Halifax and Huddersfield as reduced journey times will make this more viable. Improved cycle and pedestrian facilities along the A629 will be designed to encourage people to consider cheaper, more environmentally friendly options for commuting, or to simply enjoy exercising during their leisure time.
To alter the layout of the Calder and Hebble junction, the Council will need to purchase land at four sites, which are currently owned by Yorkshire Electricity, the Canal & Rivers Trust, Elland Hall Farm and New Bank Garden Centre. Negotiations are underway with the landowners to purchase the plots required to deliver the scheme.
No plans have been revealed on where building work would happen.
