Connecting Leeds

The government has announced its infrastructure initiative for Leeds dubbed “Connecting Leeds”, this initiative seeks to improve on the current infrastructure we have as well as add brand new mega projects to all areas of Leeds. Starting with Armley gyratory and then slowly moving its way across to boar lane and crown point road in the winter of 2022.

Leeds residents can breathe a sigh of relief as the issues with traffic are now finally within the crosshairs of the government. An incredible £100m has been invested into this project, this will aid not only motorists, but cyclists, pedestrians and users of public transport, all in time for the year of culture 2023.

 Leeds City Council’s approach to re-route traffic away from the city centre on to the more appropriate Inner Ring Road and the M621 orbital route following the closure of City Square, will enable public transport, walking, cycling and public realm plans to be realised in the city.

Although still subject to programme changes, the construction timetable covers these affected areas:

 Winter 2022

• Armley Gyratory starting with off-highways, then on-highways

• Boar Lane

• Crown Point Road

• Neville Street / Meadow Road

• Bishopgate Street – works for diverting utilities

Spring 2022

• Great Wilson Street

• Aire Street, King Street and Wellington Street

• Lady Lane

 Summer 2022

• East Parade bus gate and Calverley Street

• Bishopgate Street and Dark Neville Street

• Quebec Street

• Late summer – the final closure of vehicular access to City Square

This spring will also see works complete around the Corn Exchange gateway scheme, Leeds bus station, A647 Leeds to Bradford route, the A61 south towards Stourton, Regent Street flyover, and the extension to Temple Green park and ride. This follows schemes completed in 2021, despite the disruption of the Covid pandemic, like the UK’s first solar powered park and ride at Stourton, the Headrow Gateway scheme, Cookridge Street, Park Row, and Infirmary Street.

Large strides

Over the past three years the council has made big progress in the delivery of people-first infrastructure and public spaces across the city centre. There has been around £200 million invested in improving Leeds City Centre, including the Leeds Public Transport Improvement Programme (LPTIP) Connecting Leeds works delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, with major investments enabling support of the 3.5-hectare green City Park, and the delivery of the Our Spaces schemes.

The works have been delivered at the same time as one another, and at unprecedented pace to meet the deadlines of government funding. Our transport conversation findings in 2016 made it clear the public wished for improvements to be made as quickly as possible.

More work to be done

These plans are on top of the already large number of temporary road closures and street works to facilitate works by utilities companies, private building developers, contractors acting on its behalf and its own in-house contracting team. And despite of these challenges, plus Covid-19 approximately 900 road closures and 30,000 street works have been overseen by the council in the last 12 months.

Councillor Helen Hayden, executive member for infrastructure and climate said:

“This year marks another major step in meeting our ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030, as well as our preparation for the 2023 Year of Culture.

“These works will transform the city centre, with the changes to City Square and the train station helping cement Leeds a first-class city to live in or visit. The new and improved public space that will great arrivals to the city centre is something that everyone can enjoy, regardless of the reason for their trip and is a real show of our dedication to better space for people, rather than cars.

“Reallocating road space in favour of public transport, walking and cycling is a trend we are carrying out across our city, helping work towards the council’s vision of a city where you don’t need a car. We are working on greater and improved connectivity and with more appealing public space to make that vision a reality.

“The necessary works at Armley Gyratory and Regent Street flyover will move vehicles on to the inner ring road where they can travel more efficiently and, in the case of Armley, will be delivered alongside cycling and pedestrian improvements.

Whispers of whats to come

With regards to the property market, this is excellent news, Infrastructure spending leads to both more jobs and a greater “velocity of money” in the local economy, Where spending increases, the market will adjust and a property price rise becomes almost inevitable.

This singular decision to build local infrastructure will likely trigger a chain of events that lead to the price rise. The Best time to invest, is now.

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