Construction work to create an extra 550 spaces to Elland Road park and ride has started.
The Council’s Connecting Leeds programme is set to create an additional 2,000 park and ride spaces across the city by March 2021. The work on Elland Road marks the start of increasing car parking capacity with an extra 550 spaces, bringing the site up to 1,350 spaces.
Recently the Elland Road park and ride site celebrated its fifth anniversary and has already helped to remove almost 1.2 million cars from Leeds City centre roads. The expansion will remove approximately 277,000 annual car journeys from the city centre and 5,000 tonnes of carbon.
Park and ride across the city has proved popular with both Elland Road and Temple Green expected to meet capacity this year. Work on the Stourton park and ride is due to start shortly and plans are being developed for a park and ride in Alwoodly in north Leeds.
The works form part of Connecting Leeds’ improvements – aiming to invest an unprecedented £270million in the transport network of the city. Connecting Leeds, the long-term transport strategy for Leeds, aims to improve all aspects of transport and travel in the city and connecting to the wider Leeds City Region.
In December 2018, the Council’s Executive Board approved plans for the extension and planning permission was granted in January this year. The works are scheduled to complete by summer 2020.
Leeds City Council’s executive board member for climate change, transport and sustainable development, Councillor Lisa Mulherin said:
“Park and ride is a key part of our Connecting Leeds transport strategy for the city. It helps us achieve our aims of reducing congestion and improving local air quality, by improving public transport. I’m pleased to see Elland Road park and ride is already a success and a more popular alternative to travelling by car into the city centre. These extra 550 park and ride spaces developed through Connecting Leeds, will have the capacity to take 277,000 car journeys off our streets each year with the removal of approximately 5,000 tonnes of carbon.
“With a Climate Emergency now is the time more than ever for commuters to think about their journeys. Providing better and more reliable bus services will give more people the confidence and choice to plan travel, without using their car. It’s also a cheaper way to travel for families, with children travelling free from park and ride with a paying adult.”
Councillor Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:
“Our Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride sites in Leeds have been hugely successful in reducing congestion and the pollution it causes. Passengers have used the services to make over 2½ million journeys and almost 1.2 million car journeys have been removed from city centre roads.
“Now, with this work to create extra capacity at Elland Road underway and construction of the new park and ride at Stourton shortly due to start, we are literally building on that success.”
Andy Crampton, Bam Nuttall LPTIP Project Director, said:
“In collaboration with Leeds City Council, and national and local suppliers and partners, we’re delivering sustainable infrastructure, improving transport connectivity and capacity, to support regional growth. We’re creating opportunities, to help unlock the potential of people in the local community, developing skills and local opportunities in construction and infrastructure support and transport services.”
Martin Hirst, First West Yorkshire, Commercial Director, said:
“We are delighted to once again be at the forefront for the expansion of this project. We are thrilled to work in close partnership with the local authority in the popular Leeds Park & Ride scheme. We are committed to working in partnership to deliver the best bus services for the region. By working together, local authorities and bus operators can make a real impact on congestion and air quality, provide better services for our customers, support local economies more effectively and ultimately help to increase passenger numbers.”
People can find out more about Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride services from the Combined Authority’s Metro travel information website at www.wymetro.com/park-and-ride and by following @iparkandride on Twitter.
The vision set out for Connecting Leeds is to deliver a transformational step change in the transport network and connectivity in Leeds and the wider region. It’s aiming to help and support bringing people, places, jobs, learning and leisure closer together. This will be achieved through improvements to road, rail, bus, park and ride, cycling and walking services and infrastructure, reducing congestion and improving air quality and accessibility in Leeds along with utilising the latest technology innovations.
It has been developed from the feedback received in the biggest-ever transport conversation held with residents, businesses, stakeholders and visitors in the city which included more than 8,000 people taking part in a survey in 2016.
For more information go to www.leeds.gov.uk/connectingleeds or @ConnectingLeeds on twitter or through Leeds City Council’s Facebook page.
This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council
