Segregated cycle lanes planned for accident blackspot in Leeds

Segregated cycle lanes and Copenhagen style junctions are planned for a stretch of road in Leeds on which dozens of cyclists have been injured over the past five years. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that £245,000 will be invested in improving the A65 Kirkstall Road between Woodside View and Weaver Street.

The 850m stretch of road saw 59 people injured in reported collisions between January 2011 and January this year with 32 of those incidents involving cyclists.

In September 2012, the Quality Bus Initiative was launched on the A65 Kirkstall Road with the intention of delivering a range of benefits to bus users, cyclists and pedestrians. However, it appears to have had little effect.

In several of the recorded incidents, the cyclist was in the cycle lane and according to a council report was “masked to the vehicles which were turning up a side street.” As well as segregation, the new proposals therefore also include Copenhagen style junctions.

The junctions, which feature side road speed tables, are designed to slow down motor vehicles with cyclists and pedestrians given priority.

Leeds Cycle Forum was consulted on the proposals, with the report stating: “The forum members were in favour of the scheme and saw it as a change in a positive direction.”

Leeds City Council’s chief highways and transportation officer has approved the scheme.