£2 millions for four miles towpath upgrade

Published: Thursday, 21 March 2019

A SCHEME to upgrade four miles of towpath on the Rochdale Canal will cost £2.1 millions.

This, what is seen as an outrageous cost, is to upgrade a towpath to improve cycling between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, Alan Tilbury reports.

Encourge bike travel

It is due to start next month as part of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s £60m CityConnect programme aimed at encouraging more people to travel by bike on the towpath.

The work will include resurfacing and widening the canal towpath, adding to the length already built between Hebden Bridge and Sowerby Bridge, providing communities along the Calder Valley with a traffic-free, flat and fast, attractive alternative route to the A646

.So if the Rochdale Canal is closed again this summer, at least the cyclists will be able to use it!