Crown Point Road and Black Bull Street are to be downgraded from ‘A’ to ‘B’ roads. Leeds City Council set out the decision in a report published yesterday (18 April 2023).
The move is part of wider plans to reduce through routes using the city centre and comes as work to reduce the size of the roads concludes.
Crown Point Road has been reduced to a single lane with improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists as it will soon bisect the newly created Aire Park greenspace. Black Bull Street has been reduced from three to two lanes and is now home to the Ruth Gorse Academy secondary school.
The downgrading reflects these changes and aims to divert through traffic onto the A61 Inner Ring Road stages 6 and 7 which includes the John Smeaton viaduct. This section links the M621 at Junction 4 to York Road via East Street on the north bank of the River Aire across the bridge at South Accommodation Road.
As part of these changes a review of major roads in the area was undertaken and minor changes to the numbering of existing A roads will also be put in place.
Leeds City Council, as the Local Highway Authority has the power to reclassify roads without central government approval. Whilst Crown Point Road and Black Bull Street will no longer be A roads, they were not part of the Primary Route Network and as B roads will attract the same funding from central government.
You can read the full report by clicking here.
Main photo: works to narrow Crown Point Road (Google Streetview)
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