A £16 million scheme to improve roads between Leeds and Bradford is set to go before a panel of regional decision-makers, writes Richard Beecham.
Improvements expected to take place on the A647 corridor, which runs from Armley gyratory to Leeds Road gyratory at Thornbury could see further works to improve cycling and bus provision on the roads.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) investment committee is expected to agree to £15.9m worth of funding for the scheme at a meeting next week.
Work is set to include replacing current high occupancy vehicle lanes on Stanningley Road with extended bus lanes and further bus priority measures at traffic signals.
It is also set to include improvements to the Armley Road/Ledgard Way
junction and Pickering Street, reducing ‘delays to general traffic and improving safety for all users’, as well as ‘segregated lanes to complement the Leeds Bradford cycle superhighway’.
A report by WYCA officers added:
“The scheme aims to promote modal shift from car to bus, taking up to 210,000 car kilometres off the road network following completion, helping to reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions on a key transport corridor with adjacent residential and education uses.”
WYCA hopes the scheme can also reduce bus journey times, make bus stops more accessible and lead to a ‘reduction in the severity of accidents’.
Construction is expected to start this May and be completed in June 2021.
Once again, no consideration for those of us who cannot use public transport because of disability. If the bus stopped outside my house I couldn’t get on it as my mobility scooter which folds into my car boot would not be able to drive onto the bus. Stanningley Road is a no-go area at the moment when the 2+ Lane is in operation as it takes far too long to get anywhere so I am forced to do a detour through residential streets if I have a hospital appointment at LGI or St James. Leave things as they are and have some consideration for disabled Leeds Council Tax payers who have to rely on their cars to get anywhere.
Turning this into a permanent bus lane is a disastrous mistake. The road is already crowded even when the bus and 2+ lanes are open. Making the whole thing a permanent bus lane also impacts heavily on powered 2 wheelers who can presently use the 2+ lane.
Pushing these into the main, single lane is dangerous and counterproductive to the flow of traffic. When the road is very busy busses may have trouble getting around cyclists who will be going slower than the bus, so holding them up as well.