By Neil Cullen
Residents at Dawsons Corner Roundabout woke on Saturday, 25 April to the swish of freely flowing traffic on a sunny spring morning. Two lanes in each direction, to and from Stanningley bypass and Bradford Road.
This is Phase 1 of the much-advertised Big Road Switch. Phase 2 will be completed by Monday morning (27 April). On Saturday a few unprepared motorists were confused trying to turn left towards Rodley and Horsforth, but staff were on hand to advise them how to follow the convoluted diversions via Farsley.
It is just 13 months since WLD reported on the vegetation and tree removal in preparation for this metamorphosis from a congested roundabout to a high-capacity gyratory system.
A lot of tarmac has been laid in recent weeks after a long period of excavation and cable-laying. But on Saturday a fully formed, beautifully white-lined dual carriageway emerged from behind the crash barriers.
The new surfaces will, of course, cause much more rainfall runoff during wet weather, and evidence of the provision for this are the large concrete manhole rings yet to be installed near the edge of the carriageways. Flooding would dampen the exhilaration of everyone.
At the time of writing, half of the junction remained blocked off, occupied by a herd of heavy machines working to open the full road system (minus a few residual lane closures) by today (Monday). Nevertheless, it seems the minor miracle of transforming the junction in a single weekend is about to happen.
Doubtless a huge amount of planning has gone into this, but to the uninitiated it would seem that: “The impossible we do at once; miracles take a little longer”.
Tribute should also be paid to the traffic signal engineers who have, through carefully programmed temporary signals, as far as one can see, kept traffic flowing smoothly and safely throughout the works.
Pedestrians and cyclists have not been treated so well, and despite signposted routes existing, away from the traffic for safety, there have been significant diversions obstructing the straight-line routes desired by the many pedestrians.
There are no traffic lights yet, but the finished plans show extensive routes and crossing for pedestrians, cyclists and even horse riders. A traditional bridleway crosses the site.
It is to be hoped that the traffic engineers’ wizardry extends to programming these to harmonise the needs of humbler road users with the demands of drivers and passengers. Otherwise, the many years of planning will have been in vain.
Clearly a lot of thought and planning has gone into the junction layout to accommodate its 57,000 vehicles per day. Nevertheless, negotiating the new layout will not be for the faint-hearted.
Several lane choices will be needed. Consider, for instance, travel from Stanningley to Horsforth, or Bradford to New Pudsey train station.
Highway Code Rule 147 encourages drivers to “be patient; remember that anyone can make a mistake”. At this junction the different driving cultures of Leeds and Bradford meet, and the test of patience will be the amount of horn tooting we hear.
Driving instructors might create a “Dawsons’ Corner Diploma” for award to their brightest pupils. It would be well deserved. Will DVSA build it into their test routes?
Full completion is scheduled for early 2027 and there is clearly a lot to be done yet; drainage mentioned already, bus stops, all the walkways and crossings, the cycle/pathway from The Fairway, traffic lights, direction signs and street lighting. But this weekend looks like a success.
Congratulations to the planners and contractors, and those who contributed to the consultations. Plus the patient road users who have waited a long time for this moment.
Leeds City Council this morning offered this update:
“The big traffic switch over at Dawsons Corner is a major undertaking and, as with many highways projects of this size, we were conscious that there was potential for it to cause disruption to traffic.
“Our teams have worked hard at Dawsons Corner since Friday night and completed the traffic switch over by the scheduled time of 5am today (Monday).
“Please access with care through the new traffic layout still under construction and with traffic management in place.
“We appreciate that disruption will have been frustrating for those affected and thank everyone for the patience they have shown.”
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