Council chiefs have released a new video showing how improvements to the Ledgard Way junction of Stanningley Road aim to make travel from Leeds to Bradford safer and quicker for all road users.
The changes are part of the £16 million bus priority scheme, which aims to improve public transport access into Leeds city centre on the A647.
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.
The measures are part of the overall £270 million Connecting Leeds project to improve transport, are expected to reduce journey times by 10 to 15 minutes.
More details on the scheme can be found here.
When it states improvements for all road users… I am not convinced. What it should state is improved roads for bus time tables I am also not convinced it is worth 10-15 minutes, as will depend on the length of the bus jouney. Those who board buses in Armley will find that they can get to Leeds centre, before they even get on the bus! using that time saving.
What it really means is that the majority of road user who pay road fund tax and those that pay council rates MAY make life a little easier for those on public transport and those that are actiuallly paying will end up been more stressed, but fuel used and take longer in traffic. As the main reason cars are used ( certainly in my case) is that the buses do not go to where i work which is 13 miles away, which is outside Leeds, but i need the A647 to get me to the motorways which used to be the quickest route until the cycle lanes and 2+ lanes introdued. Both of which cost millions and now scrapped. A WASTE OF PUBLIC FUNDS and the planners should be held accountable. The cyclists should also start to be registered to pay a cycle lane fee. If they use the road, they should be fined. Lets make using the road more equal and a fairer system. Not cause congestion and pollution. As more cars are going electric they will be cleaner than 99.9% of the buses on the roads. So I have said what i think, but suspect the people who make the decisions are not using the road every day and peak times.
I think there are big problems with the scheme but I take issue with your comments about bus and cycle users. Road tax is a bit of a misnomer. It is not a tax on road use but vehicle use. Bus users pay for their vehicle use as part of their ticket price. Cyclists have a tiny impact on the actual wear and tear of roads, even including bike lanes, and given their minuscule impact on the environment there is no logic to charging them for riding a bike. I know the cycle lanes are not popular with some drivers who seem to think they have some automatic privilege over cyclists and public transport users, witnessed by some of the outrageous behaviour of a minority of drivers who drive too close and even target cyclists in a totally dangerous way. If you’ve ever cycled a major route like the A647 then you would realise how important it is to have dedicated cycle lanes on these routes – unless you are proposing banning cycling as a mode of transport? We have pedestrians regularly killed or injured on this route and cyclists have died too. It seems quite fair to me that us drivers should pay to protect other road users and pedestrians – should be have a tax on pedestrians to pay for barriers to protect them from dangerous drivers, or traffic lights and zebra crossings so they can cross the road? If you drive a car you need to recognise you are in charge of an incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal bit of equipment. We *should* pay to protect other more vulnerable road users. Not everyone can cycle of course and I agree that inadequate public transport ill-serves commuters and leisure travellers alike. But how is it fairer to make cyclists pay to use roads? (probably unenforceable anyway). Cyclists don’t emit pollutants and have virtually no impact on road surfaces, or for that matter accidents, and are probably less of a drain on the NHS as a result of the exercise involved. As for electric cars being less polluting than buses: electric buses will soon become the norm and electric cars whilst certainly less polluting when driven, nonetheless do not come without a big environmental cost – materials, especially batteries which rely on mining lithium, cobalt and a whole swathe of rare-earth elements. As both a car driver and a cyclist I want a fair deal for everyone but we have to think urgently about how we create a sustainable future or none of us will be around to witness any kind of future at all.
Well it is of course fine unless you live on the Aviaries – the inevitable increase in rat running from delays on Legard way through the estate has been seen already.
The junction changes mean that people on the estate cannot easily access Leeds and have to run a route via Pickering Street which will add delays and congestion. But this apparently is a successful price to pay because we simply do not count.
So my journey through that junction is to go via Armley to Burley, and I see that this will now not be possible at all with the redesign. What are we supposed to do then?
No right turn onto canal road is gunna send cars up onto Armley town street and back down.
Or doing u turns quarter of a mile up and causing accidents by slamming on at the nicket..
How do I drive to work from home, armley Town Street to work in headingley or alwoodley.
Turn towards a bottle neck armley giratory or bottle neck kirkstall. I’ve got it I’ll buy a bicycle and trailer, cycle lanes are always empty.