WORK is underway on a £2.1m upgrade to Doncaster Road as part of a new active travel scheme.
There is currently a lane closure on the road, which runs from Stairfoot Roundabout through Ardsley, while the work is carried out.
Improvements include three new crossings, a wider footpath, improved junctions and upgraded street lights and bus stops.
Barnsley Council has assessed a number of ‘key issues’ along the stretch, including ‘major deficiencies in the quality and amenity of infrastructure for non-motorised users’.
The scheme has been funded through a grant from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which aims to encourage active travel.
Barnsley Council says that the the scheme will link existing off-road cycle routes into the town centre, while connecting employment hubs, schools, bus links and shops through Ardsley, Darfield and into Goldthorpe.
The widening of the footpath will ‘provide safer active travel infrastructure to meet targets around uptake in cycle and walking numbers that is long lasting and has minor maintenance attached in its preceding years’.
Doncaster Road’s junctions with Cumberland Drive, Chapel Street, Quaker Lane and Eskdale Road will be closed one at a time throughout the period of works, to allow the project to be completed.
The works are expected to be complete by the end of May.
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, said: “We take road safety very seriously and review our road network annually to make Barnsley a safer place for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“We started on the A635 Active Travel Scheme in January with Esh Construction to deliver improvements in the area, which are scheduled for completion in May.
“They will improve the route to encourage local communities to use more active ways to get around like walking and cycling.“
In addition to the main highway works, we will also make improvements to Ardsley Park with new surfaced paths as part of the scheme.”
