Canal towpath improvements

Our canal towpath upgrades provide missing links in local cycling and walking infrastructure, as well as opening up access to some of the region’s best countryside, including the Yorkshire Dales.

Canal towpath improvements

Our schemes are funded by the Department of Transport (DfT) and delivered in partnership with the Canal & River Trust, which cares for 2,000 miles of canals, and our local authority partners.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Improvement on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, which is part of Sustrans’s National Cycle Network (NCN Route 66), is one in a series of our canal towpath improvement schemes across West Yorkshire.

Kirkstall – Shipley

Since our resurfacing works on the 14km section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath between Kirkstall and Shipley in spring 2016 overall usage has increased significantly. 

Works are currently underway to improve a further two sections along the towpath between Shipley and Apperley Bridge. These improvements will be complete in late summer 2022.

Riddlesden – Silsden

We’ve also resurfaced a 2.7km section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath between Riddlesden and Silsden, building on previous improvements from Kirkstall to Apperley Bridge.

Rochdale Canal

Sowerby Bridge - Todmorden

We have made it easier to walk and cycle on a 16km section of the Rochdale Canal towpath between Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden, providing communities along the Calder Valley with a traffic-free, flat and attractive route.

Download our Todmorden nature trail map.

Calder & Hebble Navigation

The Calder & Hebble Navigation towpath has been resurfaced on a 2km section between Sowerby Bridge and Hollas Lane Bridge.

Huddersfield Narrow Canal

We've improved the Huddersfield Narrow Canal towpath between Longroyd Lane in Huddersfield and Slaithwaite.

Community celebrates Rochdale Canal towpath improvements at Todmorden

 

Huddersfield Narrow Canal towpath re-opens at Slaithwaite