People are being asked for their views on plans for £7.06 million of new cycling routes across Leeds, as part of Leeds City Council’s plans aimed to encourage more people to travel by bike, in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The new plans add 7kms of cycle lanes, including 3.2kms of segregated cycling to the Leeds city centre cycle network across five separate schemes. Together, they will increase the length of continuous cycling infrastructure by linking up and filling in gaps to the existing and planned cycle network. The aim is to improve the connectivity to the city centre and access of the city-wide cycle network.
These schemes will also improve cycle access to Leeds railway station, enabling people to extend their trips by train across West Yorkshire and shorter trips within Leeds. Plus they will help encourage more trips to be made within the city centre, and surrounding areas.
The five schemes included (and shown on the map):
- Southern Gateway: Neville Street and Bishopgate Street, with Dark Neville Street and Sovereign Street. Links the crossing of the River Aire to Leeds station and onwards connectivity to City Square. Will join-up the station and its new cycle hub, the canal towpath and on to Elland Road.
- Crown Point Bridge Gateway: Black Bull Street and Crown Point Road. A link over the River Aire, in the south east of the city. Provides connectivity with the planned new cycle facilities on the A61 Hunslet Lane and existing cycle routes on Kirkgate and Duke Street.
- Holbeck Connector: Whitehall Road to Holbeck. This links communities in Holbeck to the city centre and the River Aire crossing.
- Western Gateway: Kirkstall Road to Wellington Street (A65) and St Pauls Street. Completes connectivity between existing facilities on the A65 with the segregated cycle routes on Wellington Street.
- Eastern Gateway: Lady Lane, Templar Street and Bridge Street. Links with existing high-quality cycling provision on A61 Regent Street to the city centre via the Headrow Gateway scheme.
Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate change, transport and sustainable development, said:
“I’m delighted to see these new plans to improve the cycling connectivity across the city centre. We’re keen to see that every new piece of segregated cycleway in Leeds moves us nearer to the 500 miles of cycle network we want to see across the city.
“These new routes play a major part in our long-term Connecting Leeds cycling and transport ambition to provide safer and better connected routes. To enable and encourage more people to make the switch to cycling.
“As we begin to look ahead to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and renew our focus on tackling the climate emergency and improving our health and wellbeing, every one of us needs to play our part in supporting the shift to sustainable transport and away from over-reliance on individual private cars to public transport, walking, cycling, car clubs and demand responsive transport.
“I look forward to people having their say on these proposals, which is part of delivering a better, safer, better-connected and more accessible cycle network.”
Councillor Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, said:
“We are pleased to be working in partnership with Leeds City Council to deliver these important schemes, which will make it easier for people to travel by bike.
“Many of us have embraced cycling and walking throughout the pandemic and it is important we continue to do so. Enabling increasing numbers of us to travel by bike and on foot is more important than ever, not only as we look to address the health, transport and economic challenges created by COVID-19, but also in helping us achieve our aim of becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2038.
“From connecting people across our region, to reducing air pollution and congestion, and combatting physical inactivity and obesity, we know getting more people cycling and walking has a vital role to play in making West Yorkshire a great place to live and work.”
Between now and 21 February, people are encouraged to have their say online and to view all the plans via the Combined Authority’s Your Voice website.
Subject to the necessary approvals, construction is expected to start in spring 2021 and to be completed by March 2023.
The schemes are being delivered through the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) – a major new programme of transport infrastructure investment aimed at providing viable alternatives to car journeys.
It is estimated the programme will improve journeys by bus, rail, bike and on foot for up to 1.5 million people, take up to 12 million car trips per year off our roads and reduce CO2 emissions from car travel by up to 15,000 tonnes by 2036.
This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council
The existing lanes are not being used so how can you justify spending more money on further lanes. Why can’t this money be spent on better public services that benefit all society? Or to improve the roads for people who pay to drive on them?
The councillors tell us they will be used when they are joined up. I am not holding my breath.
Totally agree that there is no demand case for spending this money.
Leeds administration needs to save the cash and relieve the budget deficit.
The people of Leeds can see it’s not needed.
The elected representatives just need to walk around and look how few use these lanes
Are your for real !!?? This is beyond taking the ultimate piss because we are in this pandemic and you as in Leeds city council are building cycle lane… and for whom?? People are working from home that’s number one , and number two how many people do cycle in order for you to make the cycle lane !!?? And of all time you think spending money making cycle lane where you could have spent that money helping those who need food , laptops for children who can’t afford one to do their home school learning !! You taking the ultimate piss out of wasting tax payers money !!! How bloody dare you wasting our money !! Outrageous !!! Helping people is out isn’t your priority but building cycle lane is …. you need to look at your conscious who ever is behind this … absolute sickening … !!!
Complete and utter waste of money!
Absolute Rubbish nobody uses the cycle lanes already in place.
Better transport is what is required
The standard of footpaths and pavements all around Leeds is totally deplorable, falling far below
any criteria which should be maintained by Leeds Highways for the safety and well being of pedestrians. Therefore this plan to expend so much money on cycle lanes is not only a misdirection of priorities but a waste of resources and an insult to the safety of pedestrians. If this misguided plan goes ahead then Leeds City Council will have totally ignored the people who need to walk on these poorly maintained pavements just to satisfy cyclists which will in my opinion be ģrossly negligent and sadly lacking by Leeds Council.
Is it not high time that Leeds City Councillors joined the real world that the rest of us are living in?
How can they possibly in their tiny minds be even contemplating wasting £7 million on cycle lanes when they are not a priority? The safety of Leeds people walking on pavements and using the badly maintained roads should be at the top of the list not cycle lanes! Too much money is already wasted on cycle lanes anyway. For goodness sake Leeds Council WAKE UP TO WHAT YOUR PUBLIC NEEDS!
Never heard of anything so ridiculous.
Complete waste of money ! Cannot understand how this is going ahead.
Ppavements. Roads. Etc need money to be spent on. Never mind cycle lanes.
What a waist of money! We need leasure centre, eest Leeds. That was promised many years ago, where is it?? Think of olderly peopl too they using lots of leasure centre. They are more safe there than on bike!
Leeds City Council state that they have a budget shortfall of £118m and are looking to make savings, yet will waste money on useless projects. The current cycle lanes are under utilised and badly laid out with what appears to be little thought in what is really needed. We will have a 3.9% plus council rate increase which will give the councillors more money to waste.
Absolute waste of money. Damaging the environment by slowing cars down and causing bottlenecks on busy routes causing more ongoing pollution than the normal vehicles would especially as electric vehicles are going to become the norm. Just another excuse to FORCE people not to use the car. Hundreds of established trees are being felled which again destroys the environment. If hardly anybody is using these after a year we should all club together and sue the council for wasting money and damaging our city. About time our councillors realised they are working for us. They are not there to dictate to us.
Has anyone within Leeds City Council looked or carried out a survey of the usage of the existing cycle lanes already in use.I live in Crossgates that is the start of the fist super cycle highway and the only cyclists I see still use York Road into the city.I have asked several cyclist I know and they won’t use the cycle path as they say it is dangerous.Looking at it in several places round bus stops the cycle path does deviate sharply and run next to the bus stop potential to clash with members of the public.I agree with the rest of the comments a total waste of money
When I have put the question to a few councillors the standard reply is that when they are all joined up people will use them.
This is an unjustifiable waste of money and resourses!!
Priority shoul be given to other needs such as educational equipment for children during school closures, food , information services and god knows how many other more deserving and rewarding projects.
During a period when the country is in lock down, an economic recession looming it beggers belief that LCC is hell bent on providing a uneeded and unwarrented cycle way that less than a probable 20% of people will or would be able to use. What happened to the proposed tram way? another waste of money. LCC should hold their heads in shame!!
Local elections are just around the corner, at this moment I would’nt bother putting a cross against any candidate supporting this farce.
Waste of money when I drive about if I see 2 cyclists I’m lucky, plus when schools open going to be horrendous get to 2 schools to pick my kids up on time due to the back log of traffic which the work is causing, I’m sure all this money could be better spent somewhere else, how about using some to fill all the pot holes I’ve got to dodge so I don’t damage my car !!!
Another waste of money project and causing more traffic mayhem.
It really doesn’t matter what the majority say about this, you will just ignore and carry on anyway.
Fix the roads, paths and provide better social care for all.
Complete waste of money probably work out at £100,000/new cyclist
What about helping the homeless and people that really need help, my god what a bunch of cretins leeds city council are talk about wasting money, there gonna spend all that money and then what they will do to claw it back is put the council tax up there living in cloud cuckoo land
What an absolute waste of our money. They will not be used. Spend our money on improving
existing roads for motorists who pay dearly to use them.
You only have to look to place like Denmark to see you will only get the real benefits of ‘normal’ people cycling (slow climate change, better air quality, better health etc) with radical changes that make cycling simple and need to inconvenience some drivers (yes I am one, over 80% of cyclist are, pay VED and tend to have a good understanding of the Highway Code as our lives depend on it. Yes we hate to irresponsible minority as much as you do – if not more).
Schemes like these take us slowly in the right directions, but don’t be surprised if the cyclist don’t come flocking to small changes like this. And if you think it can’t happen in the UK then preCOVID is you stopped at the traffic lights in Parliament Square you’d probably be one of 10 to 30 cyclist, almost outnumbering the cars on your own dedicated lane.
I’m a cyclist and a pedestrian. I’m also a driver . From all three perspectives I welcome any improvements to cycle lanes. It was really noticeable during the first lockdown how many more people of all ages felt safe enough to brave the roads, due to the relative absence of cars, and to use their bikes for both commuting and pleasure. The benefits of cycling for people’s physical and mental health are well-established in research, and people found out for themselves that they felt better and fitter. Many people have wanted to carry on cycling ( you only have to go to the Urban Bike Park to understand how popular it is) but it is true that it feels much less safe in the dark, in winter, and with many more cars around.
Cyclists on the roads are at risk from drivers who don’t understand our vulnerability and pass too close or cut us up. Some drivers misjudge our speed, some simply don’t see us (even when we’re in high-viz and lit up like Blackpool lights). And some unfortunately are deliberately aggressive. Existing cycle lanes are not extensive enough, not joined up and – because they are often shared routes – not entirely safe for either cyclists or pedestrians. It can be quite difficult sometimes to work out where they actually go too!
This money comes from central government, not council tax, and it can only be spent on cycle lanes. There is not the option to spend it on roads and pavements or on homeless people, although I agree the government should certainly make more money available for housing and other forms of support. As I see it, the cycle lane improvements are about creating a real choice for how we travel around the city, and further afield. They are about getting us out of the endless, daily, traffic jams that we were seeing before the pandemic. They are about creating a healthier, less polluted inner-city for us, our children and our grand-children to grow and flourish in.
I agree with every one if the above comments, it is a total waste of money, they would be better off making a bus lane all the way to city centre, on both sides of the roads, and not just scraggy bits here and there, people would use the buses then, but you never see anyone using cycle lanes, and the council must be stupid if they don’t see that. Will these comments actually be sent to the council so they know people’s views on cycle lanes, absolute waste of money, sort roads and pavements out, build more houses, but for god sake don’t waste £7 million on cycle paths that people don’t use or want.
I am sceptical about cycle lanes and how much they will be used. Having been knocked off a bicycle 3 times, I am well aware that cycling is inherently unsafe. To make it safe, we need cycle lanes everywhere (so people do not have to use roads shared with other traffic to reach them) – clearly, this is not affordable. However, we know there is a demand for ‘leisure-use cycling’ – why not encourage that by spending on improvements to existing cycle paths – eg canal towpaths – although, even here, these paths are often shared with pedestrians, horse riders etc.
If you think cycling on the road is unsafe you now know how pedestrians feel walking legally on the pavement having to dodge cyclists
Dear SLL,
The article headline is ‘Have your say on plans’ ????
Please see the link below which shows the Crown Point / Black Bull St section of the proposed works set out in your article. The bottom plan shows the cycle track which runs adjacent to Ruth Gorse Academy.
What I don’t understand is why are the council asking people at this point to have their say/opinion on this particular plan when these works have already been completed (see Google map link)?
Surely LCC should consult with the general public before a spade enters the ground or is this the perfect example of a fait accompli ? May be SLL could ask LCC why this work went ahead prior to consultation?
https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/leeds-ccci
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7919114,-1.535702,3a,75y,180h,89.77t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sk891jfGfhRd1rVg3Z2e-Og!2e0!5s20190801T000000!7i16384!8i8192
Hi South Leeds Life,
Sorry I seem to have uploaded the wrong link on my earlier comment/question.
Please see correct links below, this clearly shows that part of the Crown Point Cycle Track work has already been completed (bottom plan) ???
I ask again why are LCC / WYCA consulting with the general public when the works have already been done?
Says to me this consultation process is simply a tick box exercise and its happening anyway whether we like it or not!
Crown Point (Bottom Plan)
https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/6622/widgets/19399/documents/8763/download
Google Map link
data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sk891jfGfhRd1rVg3Z2e-Og!2e0!5s20190801T000000!7i16384!8i8192
Hi Kirsty, thanks for raising this. I’ve had a look at the plans and the current situation (via Google). Currently there is short stretch of cycle lane running past the Ruth Gorse Academy. The plans are to extend this substantially across Crown Point Bridge and through to Hunslet Road, hence the consultation.
Good idea in theory but at the present time the money would have been better spent on more coppers on the beat enforcing lockdown rules. Also could have created jobs after lockdown for those who have lost theirs because of Covid -19
Absolute waste of money. Hardly anyone uses the ones we have. And then you think it’s a good idea to put up council tax. We need buses direct to the town centre before cycle lanes.
Usual waste of taxpayers money in order to pander to the green and environmental lobby in order to get votes,.they don’t use the ones we have now
Rule 64 of the highway code states:-
You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.
Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A sect 129
We have a so-called “pedestrian precinct”, which by definition is, ”a shopping area in a town where vehicles are not allowed “, that is meant to be a safe haven for pedestrians to go about their business, but Leeds pedestrian precinct is nothing more than a rat run and racetrack for cyclists the majority of whom are Deliveroo riders.
Due to the lack of law enforcement these people are allowed to ride through red at traffic lights and pedestrian crossings without fear of punishment when challenged they verbally abuse the person and in some cases threaten violence, I have witnessed this on a number of occasions, I myself have also been threatened and verbally abused.
They also ride the wrong way on one-way streets.
The council spent umpteen million on a so-called “cycle superhighway”, I have yet to see a cyclist use any part of it, also I see the council intend to spend £24 million on pedestrianizing the Corn Exchange area and installing more cycle lanes, what’s the point they don’t use the ones in place now.
I am not anti cycle in any way as long as they are ridden safely and with consideration for pedestrians, but so much is spent on them and they abuse the law and the facilities provided for them, but they do not contribute in any way towards them, unlike motorists who have to pay road tax and have to have insurance before they can use the roads, cyclists don’t, motorists have to pass a test and obtain a license, cyclists don’t.
The money wasted by the council on cycle lanes etc. would be better spent on more useful projects that benefit everyone not just a minority of illiterate,(unable to read the highway code), colour blind,(unable to tell the difference between red and green), idiots on two wheels.
Love all the boomer replies here, thanks for making my day. The current cycle lanes are under used as they are in poor condition and ill-thoughtout, many end in shared pavements, many simply end on main dangerous roads and many are littered with pot-holes bollards and signs.
Take London for example, the original cycle superhighways where just a blue strip of paint on the road, often ending at roundabouts forcing cyclist to share lanes with cars. These where underused and incredible dangerous (hency why underused). The new superhighways have separated lanes and separate signaling systems (like the ones being built in Leeds) and are incredibly popular, since people can ride without fear of being hit by cars
You don’t make an activity safer by discouraging people fr doing it (which the current, unfit for use cycle lanes do), you make an activity safer by providing better PROPER infrastructure.
I am glad to see the cycle lanes. I live in Morley but cycle to work in Leeds city centre twice a week I will be pleased once the Elland road cycle path is finished. It will be great when there are queues on the road but as a cyclist you can whizz past all of those annoyed drivers (joking). I can now pretty much guarantee half an hour to 35 minute commute which matches driving a car. Plus cheaper, healthier less wear and tear on my car.
The one thing I do sympathise with is either drivers who need to drive due to disability and families who would struggle with the public transport we have. However in terms of the later if we can make places closer to home more attractive to go to maybe we won’t feel the need to always be driving off somewhere.
As for the bus stops and how cycle lanes navigate these I think it is difficult to think of better methods. I do agree about a significant portion of cyclists in the pedestrian areas of Leeds city centre that they need to give priority to pedestrians slow down if using shared space ditto for the canal path.
I am surprised at the vitriolic response to the plans. Fair enough disagree but then realise that south leeds probably has very poor air quality due to the amount of traffic and the more people use alternatives the better this will be for air quality.