Tetra Tech is supporting development of Wakefield Council’s new £6 million Glasshoughton Southern Link Road. We obtained planning permission for the project after being appointed to the Wakefield Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) framework last year. Construction of the new road began this week.
The new development will help to relieve congestion on local roads and include a residential scheme for 1,300 new homes. Sustainability is at the heart of the new development scheme, which will create better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, helping to improve local air quality and benefitting local wildlife through the creation of wetland and planting of bee-friendly wildflowers.
Our multi-disciplinary in-house teams, including transport, drainage, ecology, highway design, archaeology, geospatial, geo-environment, and noise, air, light, and odour, worked together to secure planning permission which has unlocked the brownfield land within a former mining area. The area raised a number of challenges related to ground conditions, drainage and flood resilience, ecology and traffic impact that needed to be accounted for.
The development scheme is part of the Leeds City Region’s £1 billion-plus Local Growth Deal, which will enable the WYCA to deliver its ambitions of local economic growth, improving access to better jobs, housing, and transport services. Thus far, the WYCA and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) have invested more than £400m on key economic and transport schemes since the funding plan’s creation in 2014.
Tracey Brewer, Associate Director at Tetra Tech and delivery manager for the scheme, said: “This is the first major construction scheme WYG has delivered for the WYCA. It’s an especially important scheme because it will, on the one hand supply much-needed housing, but on the other also act as a cornerstone for ongoing economic growth in both Glasshoughton and the resurgent Castleford area.”
Nick Bunn, Director at Tetra Tech and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Framework Director, said: “Glasshoughton Southern Link Road showcases our multidisciplinary approach to the challenges of delivering major schemes within a tight timescale. This was collaborative working at its best and the whole team can be proud of their contribution to a critical scheme in West Yorkshire.”