Chapter1
Background information
1.1 Introduction
Bingley is an old market town on the banks of the River Aire, five miles north of Bradford. Bingley is home to many well known businesses such as Bradford & Bingley Bank and Damart (see figure 1.1). It is well renowned for its tourist attractions such as Five Rise Locks, Bingley's most famous monument and a wonder of the canal age.
Figure 1.2 depicts the world famous Five Rise Locks. Bingley has seen many changes in its history it has been a market town, a manufacturing centre and most recently an agricultural hub. The last of these is reflected in the annual Bingley Show, the biggest one day agricultural, horticultural, craft and horse show in Europe.
Bingley joined the canal network before its neighbour, and boasts one of the wonders of the waterway age in Five Rise Locks (1774), which raises boats on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal up sixty feet in five steps.
Staircase of five locks, dating from 1774, at Bing...
English: Bingley 5-rise Locks A narrowboat ascendi...
River Aire BingleyThe attraction is visited traditionally, by people who visit the Locks in the summer whilst spending a relaxing weekend in Bingley. The majority of visitors are predominantly of the older generation.
Apart from the canal and the river, the narrow valley holds a railway and the main road from east of the Pennines to the Lakes and the west of Scotland a communications bottleneck that has worsened over the years and blighted the town. Bingley was absorbed into Bradford's local government set up in 1974.
The project provides an analytical review of Bingley's relief road and the implication for local businesses. The dual carriage way has provided long awaited relief for the residents who live along the congested A650. The road has diverted traffic away from the single carriageway of the A650 providing relief for residents and some local businesses.