Huddersfield suddenly seems awash with roadworks ... but a year from now these roads will look very different.
For Kirklees Council has confirmed what people were beginning to suspect that the roadworks from Ainley Top through to Holmfirth are along the anticipated route where the Tour de France will travel next July.
And much of the work has been brought forward to make sure our roads are the best they can be for the prestigious race.
Drivers travelling from one side of the town to the other can’t fail to notice the disruption along the route – and although not all involve work being done on the road surface it turns out that a rolling series of improvements is now very much underway and is set to continue.
Those roads should be in pristine condition when the cyclists hurtle past almost exactly a year from now.
A Kirklees Council spokeswoman said: “Roads on the Tour de France route which were due to be improved in future years have been moved forward to this year’s road maintenance programme so they are brought up to sufficient quality in time for the race in July 2014.
“Work is already underway on the A616 Huddersfield Road/A6024 Woodhead Road at Honley and Woodhead Road at Berry Brow will be improved in the autumn. Other schemes will commence later in the year.
“Other roads across Kirklees will also be improved in the 2013/14 programme.”
The hope is that this section of the tour – dubbed the Yorkshire Grand Départ – will provide a significant tourist boost to the area.
The world’s best cyclists will set off from Leeds on July 5, 2014, and the following day they are expected to draw huge crowds to the streets of Calderdale and Huddersfield.
The cyclists will stream along the route from York to Sheffield via the Peak District on Day 2 of Le Tour.
But they will face one of the greatest cycling challenges on the long climb up Holme Moss which at 571m (1,719ft) is the site of the highest radio transmitter in the country.
Spectators can enjoy the dramatic Dark Peak scenery as the racers swoosh from Holme village, over Holme Moss, down the Woodhead Pass, racing past the national park ranger centre at Langsett and on through the picturesque village of Bradfield to Sheffield city centre.
The exact route has not yet been revealed through Huddersfield but it is anticipated to be from Ainley Top down Halifax Road, around the Huddersfield ring road and then along Lockwood Road and Woodhead Road all the way up the Holme Valley and through Holmfirth to Holme Moss.