Media centre

Wednesday 7 Feb 2018

Bridge upgrade as Great North Rail project continues in West Yorkshire

Region & Route:

| Eastern

Network Rail is carrying out work to upgrade New Cross Street road bridge in Bradford, as part of the Great North Rail Project.

The £900,000 upgrade will see the surface of the bridge removed to allow engineers from Network Rail to strengthen the beams of the structure. A new, waterproof covering will also be installed to the beams to protect them from future water damage and a new road surface will be laid. 

To allow the work to be carried out safely, New Cross Street will be closed to vehicles between the following dates and times:

• 16:00 on Friday, 9 February to 05:00 on Monday, 19 February
• 16:00 on Friday, 23 February to 05:00 on Monday, 26 February
• 16:00 on Friday, 2 March to 05:00 on Monday, 5 March.

The work has been carefully planned to minimise disruption, with the closures taking place over half term and weekends to have as little impact as possible on a nearby school. Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the work and a clearly signposted diversionary route will be in place for motorists.

Once completed, road users will benefit from a stronger and more resilient bridge with a new road surface.

The work is the latest investment into the railway in West Yorkshire with the first phase of a major project to upgrade signalling in the county recently completed. The investment saw old signalling technology ‘recontrolled’ from local lineside signal boxes to the state-of-the-art Rail Operating Centre in York. The second phase of work will see signalling upgraded on the Calder Valley line later this year.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “This work is the next stage of investment to the railway in West Yorkshire as part of the Great North Rail Project.

“It’s vital that we keep our assets in good condition and this work will not only see the bridge strengthened and the road surfaced improved, but also reduce the amount of future work through the preventative waterproofing methods.

“We appreciate that closing a road isn’t ideal and we’ve thought carefully about how we can minimise the impact on residents. We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience which this work causes and thank them for their patience.”

ENDS