West Leeds transport: Traffic congestion measures to be discussed

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cycle superhighway
The cycle superhighway between Leeds and Bradford sparked debate

A raft of proposals to tackle traffic congestion in ‘Outer’ West Leeds will be discussed by local councillors tomorrow (Wednesday).

Members of the Outer West Committee will hear about a raft of proposals to improve transport in west Leeds.

Central government has given £173.5m towards improving public transport following the collapse of the trolleybus initiative in North West and South Leeds last year.

A new transport strategy compiled for the city by the council includes:

  • Potentially doubling the number of car parking spaces at New Pudsey Station, turning it into a park and ride
  • Multi-million pound plans to relieve congestion at Dawsons Corner
  • Install an enclosed cycle hub and connect cycle routes accessing New Pudsey Station from the City Connect Superhighway on the A6147
  • Bus priority measures on the A647. This also includes consideration of Stanningley Road through Stanningley itself, as the principal route served by buses
  • This also includes consideration of Stanningley Road through Stanningley itself, as the principal route served by buses.
  • Increased bus services

 

Members are asked to note and discuss progress on a raft of proposed measures to improve transport across the area, and provide feedback on the plans.

Councillors on the Outer West Community Committee – which covers Calverley & Farsley, Farnley & Wortley and Pudsey wards – will note the findings of a survey and workshop held more than 12 months ago.

The main issue highlighted by respondents to last year’s included:

1. Criticism of cycling improvements

The report to councillors says:

“Criticism of cycling improvements was significantly heavier amongst respondents from the Outer West (17% compared to just 6% of other (area reports).”

Quotes from residents picked out by the report include:

“Cyclists have become a real problem. The waste of money spent on the cycle lane is frankly disgraceful! Cyclists now have even less manners and feel they need to ride on the pavements as well as an astronomically costed cycle lane.”

and …

“Stop wasting money on cycle paths people don’t actually use. Make more pedestrian areas in the city centre, where no vehicles can go.”

There was also a substantial number of respondents who also wanted to see improvements in cycling. Council figures show more than 400,000 trips by bike have been recorded since last year’s opening.

2. Invest in a tram system

The second most important priority in the Outer West was for investment in a tram system, with 16% commenting on this. The comments below relate to suggestions made about such an investment:

“A tram-train system has to be considered as the best option within the West Yorkshire region, utilising existing regional rail routes with old viaduct systems to allow trams to interchange from mainline network into the city centre and neighbour areas.

“Cities such as Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Liverpool have proved tram-trains work and newly opened routes in the Midlands have shown this would be the best way to connect Leeds and the orbital areas with efficient/cost effective transport.”

 

3. More reliable bus service

A more reliable bus service (15%) was the third most frequently mentioned issue by Outer West respondents, slightly higher than others (14%). Some of the views regarding this include:

“The reason I use my car for non-work local journeys is that our bus service is terrible. In fact we are limited through the day and to none in an evening into Pudsey.”

and

“I understand there is traffic which can cause delays, but have never understood why some buses simply fail to turn up. Please try to address this ‘no show’ issue along with improving reliability…”

Respondents from Outer West were also significantly more likely to highlight the need to improve the road network/capacity (11% compared to 6% overall in Leeds) with a local emphasis on the interchange of Pudsey rail and bus.

The Outer West Community Committee meets on Wednesday, 22 November,1pm at West Leeds Scouts, The Lanes, Pudsey. Members of the public are welcome to attend. Read the agenda and papers here.



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