Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for the electricity network that powers everyday life for 8 million customers across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, will be returning to Lane Side, Wilsden to complete the work it started in May/June 2020 as part of its £30 million investment to improve the reliability and resilience of the electricity network serving Bradford.
The investment work, which started in September 2019, will be ongoing until the end of 2022 and involves excavating in the road to lay a total of 132km (around 82 miles) of new underground electricity cables with a route length of 17km (10.5 miles).
The company was unable to complete all of its work on Lane Side earlier this year because it encountered an old, damaged culvert (an underground structure that allows water to follow underneath the surface of the road). This needed to be replaced with a totally new structure that has had to be built from scratch.
It was initially planned that the new structure would be installed in early 2021, but Bradford Council has given permission for the work to be completed this November on the back of the fact that Northern Powergrid will be completing its current works on Haworth Road by Monday 23 November 2020, a week earlier than scheduled, and also because the roads are currently quieter due to lockdown.
A small section of Lane Side will be closed directly outside the Ling Bob pub from 6am on Monday 23 November to 6am on Monday 30 November 2020 while the work takes place. A signposted diversion will be in place through Wilsden, Harden and Cullingworth.
The K17 Keighley Jets bus service and school buses will still be running, but will follow a diversion route. Bus passengers can visit wymetro.com or call 0113 245 7676 for more information.
There are no plans to turn off anyone’s power as part of this work. Emergency vehicle and pedestrian access will be maintained at all times and Northern Powergrid is writing to everyone directly affected with more information.
A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: “We’re very pleased we can complete this important piece of work on Lane Side now, rather than having to come back next year and cause more disruption. It makes sense to add this work onto the end of our current road closure on Haworth Road, especially given the roads are somewhat quieter due to lockdown.
“The work is also important because the existing culvert is quite badly damaged and presents a risk to the resilience of this piece of road. The new structure we’re installing will be a significant improvement.
“We’d like to thank local people for their ongoing patience while we strive to complete our investment work in the area as quickly as possible. We’ll do all we can to continue to reduce the amount of time we spend on the roads.”
Letters are being issued to all homes and business premises directly affected.
Dates for the next sections of Northern Powergrid’s investment work in the area are to be announced soon. Anyone wanting to find out more can visit northernpowergrid.com/Bradford or contact the company’s customer care team by calling 0800 011 3332 or emailing bradford@northernpowergrid.com. The network operator is also available 24/7 on Facebook and Twitter @northpowergrid.
To translate information into another language, people can click the Accessibility icon at the top of all Northern Powergrid’s web pages or call its language line on 0800 389 8204
People who find it difficult to speak or hear can use text phone 0800 028 9507 or text relay: dial 18001 followed by 0800 169 2996.
Those who are visually impaired can click the Accessibility icon at the top of Northern Powergrid’s web pages to change font sizes and colours or click the Recite Me icon to have information read out to them. People can also sign up to receive communications in larger print or Braille by calling the Powergrid Care Team on 0800 169 2996.
