This year Connecting Leeds will start construction on several major highways’ schemes, which are all part of transforming travel in the city and across the district.
Connecting Leeds construction works will begin first on the Armley Gyratory, before focusing on roads around City Square, Leeds train station and along routes linking to the city centre. This will be the first phase to create a world-class public space and arrival gateway to the city centre for train, bus users, pedestrians, and cyclists, and will eventually see City Square closed to through traffic in readiness for the Year of Culture in 2023.
These are all part of over £100 million of transformative highways works to overturn historic barriers and issues developed from the ‘Leeds Motorway City’ of the 1970’s. This created substantial ‘through traffic’ across the city centre, which has contributed to environmental issues and disconnected neighbourhoods – which can make it more difficult for people to travel on foot or cycling between different areas. Leeds City Council’s approach to re-route traffic away from the city centre on to the more appropriate Inner Ring Road and the M621 orbital route following the closure of City Square, will enable public transport, walking, cycling and public realm plans to be realised in the city.
Although still subject to programme changes, the construction timetable covers these affected areas:
Spring 2022
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Great Wilson Street
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Aire Street, King Street and Wellington Street
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Lady Lane
Summer 2022
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East Parade bus gate and Calverley Street
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Bishopgate Street and Dark Neville Street
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Quebec Street
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Late summer – the final closure of vehicular access to City Square
Winter 2022
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Armley Gyratory starting with off-highways, then on-highways
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Boar Lane
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Crown Point Road
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Neville Street / Meadow Road
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Bishopgate Street – works for diverting utilities
This spring will also see works complete around the Corn Exchange gateway scheme, Leeds bus station, A647 Leeds to Bradford route, the A61 south towards Stourton, Regent Street flyover, and the extension to Temple Green park and ride. This follows schemes completed in 2021, despite the disruption of the Covid pandemic, like the UK’s first solar powered park and ride at Stourton, the Headrow Gateway scheme, Cookridge Street, Park Row, and Infirmary Street.
Over the past three years the council has made big progress in the delivery of people-first infrastructure and public spaces across the city centre. There has been around £200 million invested in improving Leeds City Centre, including the Leeds Public Transport Improvement Programme (LPTIP) Connecting Leeds works delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, with major investments enabling support of the 3.5-hectare green City Park, and the delivery of the Our Spaces schemes.
The works have been delivered at the same time as one another, and at unprecedented pace to meet the deadlines of government funding. The transport conversation findings in 2016 made it clear the public wished for improvements to be made as quickly as possible.
Last year the majority of respondents also supported the council’s Connecting Leeds transport strategy and ambition – to be a city where you don’t need a car. It promotes a range of solutions intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions towards the council’s climate emergency 2030 target. This means creating better experiences that make it easier for walking and cycling, along with seeing public transport more reliable and accessible. Post-covid, this approach is considered crucial to the city’s recovery in achieving the ambitions of economic recovery, inclusive growth, health and well-being, and addressing the climate emergency.
Connecting Leeds are working hard to deliver these improvements as quickly as possible and apologise for some significant disruption to journeys over the coming months. Specific details around the schemes will be publicised well in advance, along with highways signage and targeted communications in affected areas.
In the meantime, Leeds visitors, workers and residents are being urged to plan ahead with a new website page;
www.leeds.gov.uk/campaign/new-route
Before travelling and to sign up for regular email updates or follow Connecting Leeds on social media.
These plans are on top of the already large number of temporary road closures and street works to facilitate works by utilities companies, private building developers, contractors acting on its behalf and its own in-house contracting team. In despite of these challenges, plus Covid-19 approximately 900 road closures and 30,000 street works have been overseen by the council in the last 12 months.
