Shoppers and commuters have lambasted ‘chaotic’ traffic congestion as work to remove a footbridge at Armley Gyratory continues today.
An 18-mile-long diversion has been in place since Friday and will continue until 5.30am on Monday, January 15, while work takes place to remove the Gelderd Road footbridge over Armley Gyratory.
But the works have seen traffic grind to a standstill, with roads leading into the city centre from the west – including Tong Road, A647 Armley Road and Kirkstall Road -all experiencing increased traffic congestion.
The second of three footbridges around the Gyratory will be replaced with new, more accessible footbridge.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds council’s executive member for sustainable development and infrastructure said they are hoping to “remove and replace Gelderd bridge over one weekend with the least disruption possible.”
But the work has been met with anger from people attempting to get into the city centre from West Leeds who have been faced with long delays.
One person tweeted: “@Leeds_City_Ctr i would like to vote #Leeds the worst UK city. It has been destroyed by roadworks and so-called improvements. Standstill traffic today and took nearly 90 minutes to get 1 mile so I could leave. Whole council needs firing.”
Another added: “It took me and the missus the best part of an hour to get from the Gyratory where TGI is to the other side of the roundabout under the flyover.”
“Yesterday it took us an hour to get from Tint on North Street to the Novotel on Whitehall Road. In hindsight I’d have walked but had already arranged to be picked up,” another resident tweeted to WLD. “The roadworks on the outskirts of town are causing chaos.”
“Ridiculous in town today, taken me two and half hours from Farnley to the city centre – wish I’d never bothered to go in,” added another.
Gelderd Road footbridge is a single-span footbridge with a 24.9 metre beam and weighing around 75 tonnes. It is being removed by one of the world’s most powerful all-terrain cranes and self-propelled modular transporter vehicle.
The works are part of a wider scheme to improve traffic flow and relieve congestion at Armley Gyratory.
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1 hour and 20 minutes on Saturday to get from the West End Pub at Kirkstall to my friend in Rodley, normally a 10 minute journey, an absolute disgrace, and has the council done any research to how many people use these bridges? the whole gyratory road works are a disgrace and from what I’ve seen so far its made traffic queues worse, I try and avoid it if possible
I don’t really understand these complaints. Putting aside whether you think the Gyratory works are necessary, or badly handled, we have been warned of these particular delays and diversions for weeks. Online and newspaper articles, Radio ads, have told us all what is happening and when, common sense would tell you not to go near any of the affected areas by car for a few days, maybe walk, or go somewhere else. Its not rocket science is it?
We had a trip to York on Saturday with friends, from Armley round the Inner Ring Road and out on the A64, no problems with traffic on the Gyratory, what’s all the complaints? You were warned about the work for months beforehand, why did you go near the Gyratory last weekend?
Some people just don’t take responsibility for their own decisions. You chose to travel by car on a day when a well advertised diversion was in place. Only yourself to blame.
Well it is always someone else’s fault, isnt it …..