Thousands of drivers found themselves stuck at rush-hour as Kirklees Council conducted a traffic census.
And drivers then faced the bizarre question of “What phone provider do you use?”
When drivers took to social media to criticise the peak-time delays, Kirklees Council replied on Twitter that it was a “police issue” and that “police are carrying out checks & a census”. Four hours later Kirklees apologised to West Yorkshire Police for the wrong claim.
Instead West Yorkshire Police officers were merely assisting in directing the traffic to council officers in a coned-off area on the roadside – yet while drivers were told it was optional, they found they could not leave due to being stuck behind other cars.
The traffic surveys, conducted on Lockwood Road, Colne Road and Wakefield Road on Thursday, plus Bradford Road and Manchester Road on Wednesday, were part of traffic data-gathering to help shape the council’s Local Plan.
Questions asked include: Where are you going? Where have you come from? What is your home/work postcode? What time will you be returning? Do you have to pay to park at work? as well as the phone provider query.
A council spokesperson said: “We have been undertaking a number of traffic and transport surveys that ended yesterday.
“Traffic volumes have been recorded at 160 different locations around the district, and we have been surveying drivers to understand where people are travelling to and from.
“We greatly appreciate drivers taking the time to answer the survey questions as this is an essential part of our work on preparing the Local Plan; the new development plan for Kirklees that establishes how many new homes and jobs will be needed in the area for the future.
“Drivers have not been obliged to answer the questions in the census, but they must follow the direction of the Police (who are helping us on the survey) when asked to do so, as they have the power to direct traffic for the purpose of a local authority carrying out a census.
“Those who do not want to answer the survey will have to wait until it is safe to proceed out of the census area and the Police stop the mainline of traffic to let them all out.
“We have not publicised the survey exercise locations and times in advance, as our objective is to capture people’s ‘business-as-usual’ travel patterns. The survey locations will not change so outbound journeys should not be badly affected today, the last day of the survey.”
The Examiner asked Kirklees Council why it asked about mobile phone providers and they said they had not been paid by any phone provider to ask the question and the information will not be sold on either; it merely helps the council’s planning.
The last survey of its kind was in 2005 and Kirklees says there won’t be another for more than five years.
