Traffic ground to a halt when a lorry broke down on Elland’s Calderdale Way this morning, causing massive delays and leaving many people late for work.
Police set up diversions and urged people to find alternative routes after the incident northbound near the A6026 Wakefield Road.
The vehicle, thought to be a cement mixer, was partially blocking the road, and lengthy queues quickly built up.
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The incident follows repeated concerns raised by campaigners who say the plan to close Huddersfield’s A&E and move services to Calderdale Royal Hospital would lead to serious problems.
Many have voiced fears about lengthy delays on roads which would be clogged with traffic at peak times.
Calderdale Way is one of the main routes to the Halifax hospital, and many fear patients could face severe delays, especially during rush hour.
LOOK at the A629 traffic to Calderdale Royal Hospital earlier this year
One woman caught up in the chaos this morning said her journey had been “horrendous”.
“It’s normally bad enough but this morning was ridiculous.
“There seemed to be thousands of us caught up in it. We are normally stuck in traffic on a morning but nothing like this.
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“It just seemed to be never ending with cars just not moving at all. It was very frustrating.”
Another woman said: “It is like a car park. I have been stuck in my car near the turn-off into Elland for 20 minutes and hardly moved.”
There were reports of delays of more than an hour, which left many people unable to arrive at work on time.
The lorry broke down as it was heading north at about 7am, and within minutes huge queues had built up.
