A MAJOR Huddersfield road will be shut for two weeks while traffic-calming measures are installed.

Highways engineers said Firth Street - near the university - would be shut to through traffic for a fortnight from August 18.

New pedestrian crossings and speed bumps are being installed in a £210,000 scheme.

The plan is to reduce the speed of vehicles to 25mph, in a bid to cut accidents.

Thousands of students are in the area during term-time.

Work on the new measures is set to begin next Monday.

Kirklees Council said it was doing the work during the holiday season to minimise disruption. It should be finished in six weeks.

Delivery traffic and pedestrians will still be able to use Firth Street when the road is shut.

The university has given £130,000 towards the scheme.

Kirklees Council will install five zebra crossings, speed plateaux and guard rails to guide pedestrians to crossings on the stretch of Firth Street from Wakefield Road, Aspley, to the junction with King's Bridge, Newsome.

The scheme was prompted by a string of accidents involving pedestrians, one of which was fatal.

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