Plan ahead for highway improvements to Armley Gyratory next month

From 8pm on Friday 8 April 2022 until 5:30am Monday 11 April, Armley Gyratory will be fully closed to vehicles. Full diversion routes will be in place during this time and local people will be contacted about how they’re affected.

These highways enabling works mark phase one of construction taking place this year on the Armley Gyratory to improve vehicle throughput at the junction. On Monday 11 April the road will fully re-open with 30mph speed limits, narrower lanes, and other traffic management measures in place which will allow the main improvements to be carried out safely.

Leeds City Council’s Connecting Leeds team are working hard to deliver these improvements as quickly as possible and apologise for some significant disruption to journeys over the coming months.

To prepare for this closure and subsequent works, Leeds visitors, workers and residents are being urged to plan ahead (search Plan Ahead Leeds or visit www.leeds.gov.uk/planahead) before travelling and to sign up for regular email updates or follow Connecting Leeds on social media. There will also be highways and diversion signage, with targeted communications in affected areas.

Over the closure weekend (8 – 11 April) people travelling into the city centre are strongly recommended to use public transport or park and ride sites at Elland Road, Stourton and Temple Green, with almost 4,000 spaces available, as this will be more reliable than driving.

This project is part of Connecting Leeds work on several major highways’ schemes, which are all part of transforming travel in the city and across the district.

It will also see works around City Square, Leeds train station and along routes linking to the city centre. This will be the first phase to create a world-class public space and arrival gateway to the city centre for train, bus users, pedestrians, and cyclists, and will eventually see City Square closed to through traffic in readiness for the Year of Culture in 2023.

These are all part of over £100 million of transformative highways works to overturn historic barriers and issues developed from the ‘Leeds Motorway City’ of the 1970’s. This created substantial ‘through traffic’ across the city centre, which has contributed to environmental issues and disconnected neighbourhoods – which can make it more difficult for people to travel on foot or cycling between different areas. The 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.

The Temple Green park and ride extension opened this week, along with works that are almost complete on the Corn Exchange gateway scheme, Regent Street flyover, Leeds bus station, A647 Leeds to Bradford route, and the A61 south towards Stourton. These follow schemes successfully completed during the Covid pandemic in 2021 of the Stourton Park and Ride, Headrow, Cookridge Street, Park Row, and Infirmary Street.

Over the past three years Leeds City Council has made major progress in the delivery of people-first infrastructure and public spaces across the city centre. There has been around £200million 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 major Our Spaces schemes.

The works have been delivered at the same time as one another, at an 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.

Last year the majority of respondents also support the council’s Connecting Leeds transport strategy and ambition to be a city where you don’t need a car, promoting a range of solutions intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions towards the council’s climate emergency 2030 target. This means creating better experiences that make it easier for walking and cycling, along with seeing public transport more attractive to use. This approach is considered crucial after Covid to the city’s recovery in achieving the ambitions of economic recovery, inclusive growth and addressing the climate emergency.

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

 “I know that no one like roadworks and that they cause disruption, but they are necessary to improve our road network and keep Leeds moving. That’s why it’s important to let everyone know about the full weekend closure of Armley Gyratory happening on 8 April.

“The improvements to Armley Gyratory, like other major road works, will help people travel around our city easier and make better use of road space, hugely improve walking and cycling provision as well as improving public transport.

“It will help create a more people-friendly and accessible city centre and help local communities make easier journeys through what is a currently a completely car focused area. This is the first part of these works and when done it will support our long-term plans to support easier movement across our communities.

“We’re working as fast as we can to make these improvements and I want to thank everyone in advance for their patience. We have done work to try and minimise the disruption these works will have, but no matter the amount of planning there will be some congestion. A weekend closure is safer for both the operatives working on the gyratory and the travelling public.

“During the works and closure weekend, if you can, it is recommended to access the city centre using public transport or park and ride sites at Elland Road, Stourton and Temple Green. Please plan ahead and familiarise yourself with the planned diversion routes if you do need to drive. Regardless of how you travel, be sure to include some extra time in case of congestion. We have put together scheme details via www.leeds.gov.uk/planahead and again, thank you for your patience as we continue to transform travel in your city.”

This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council