‘We can’t just leave it there’: £1m extra funding approved for Newton Bar roundabout scheme

Extra money is needed to finish major works being carried out at one of the city’s busiest junction due to rising building costs.

Members of Wakefield Council’s cabinet acknowledged that the public are “frustrated” over the length of time the project is taking.

The A650 roundabout to the north of the city centre is being redeveloped with new pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, cycling lanes and carriageways. The total cost of the project is now expected to be £9.7m.

Cabinet agreed to accept £500,000 of West Yorkshire Combined Authority funding as well as matching the sum from the council’s highways budget.

Coun Matthew Morley, cabinet member for planning and highways, said: “When the funding was put in place for Newton Bar, pre-pandemic in 2018, I don’t think any of us foresaw what was coming with the financial crisis and rising costs of raw materials.

“That being said, Newton Bar is on the ground, we are delivering it, we are building it and we can’t just let leave it there and let the money run out. The scheme is still a good value-for-money scheme, improving local infrastructure.”

Referring to the increased building costs, deputy council leader Jack Hemingway said: “This isn’t a Wakefield-only problem.

“But it is getting quite frustrating now at Newton Bar. I think a lot of residents are upset about how long the scheme is taking.

“So this will help us to progress that.”

Cabinet member Coun Maureen Cummings said: “It’s a pain in the whatsit at the moment but it is going to be magnificent when it is finished.”

Coun Morley added: “We have tried to do it as quickly as possible.

“People have asked the question ‘why have you started all over the place on that scheme?’

“Well, if we didn’t, we would still be doing it for my 90th birthday.”

The works are expected to be completed by autumn.