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Junction closed to help A65 traffic flow in Ilkley

To try and help the flow of traffic and reduce disruption to the west of Ilkley on Skipton Road, the temporary lights have been made two-way with the closure of the junction with Victoria Avenue.

The roadworks which started almost three weeks ago are to connect the new housing development to the sewer network and are expected to take around ten weeks in total.

Even with traffic management in place at times, the queues have been very long, with some local residents reporting a 45 minute delay from Addingham to Ilkley.

With pressure from local councillors and MP Robbie Moore, Bradford Council’s Highways department have now closed the junction with Victoria Avenue, with traffic being diverted via Easby Drive. This is expected to only be in place until the roadworks move away from the bottom of Victoria Avenue.

District Cllr Andrew Loy said:

"Thank you to everyone who has contacted me about the roadworks at the edge of Ilkley heading out towards Addingham. I know they’ve been causing a lot of disruption and delays.

"One of the suggestions several people have put forward is to close the bottom of Victoria Avenue, so that the lights would be two-way instead of three-way.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] I spoke to Bradford Council’s Highways department and I’m grateful to them for agreeing to try this. So, for the next three weeks until the roadworks move further along the road towards Addingham, the bottom of Victoria Avenue will be closed and the traffic lights will only be two-way.

"This isn’t a silver bullet and won’t solve the problem completely, but it should hopefully help the traffic to flow a little better."

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