Work has started this week at Armley on the first section of a new cycle superhighway that will link Leeds and Bradford as part of almost £30 million of improvements for cyclists in West Yorkshire.
The 14 mile route is partly financed through an £18.1 million grant from the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition fund awarded in August 2013.
Following the completion of a public consultation exercise, the route is being completed in phases and is expected to be fully open by September, reports the Yorkshire Evening Post.
The largely segregated route will run from the east of Leeds through the city centre and on towards Bradford.
Both cities also set to be furnished with more cycle parking, while 20 mile an hour zones will also be introduced along the route where necessary.
It is being developed under the City Connect initiative from West Yorkshire Combined Authority Leeds City Council and Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
The project, which aims to get more people cycling for everyday journeys such as commuting, also includes an upgrade of canal towpaths between Kirkstall and Shipley and Kirkstall.
Last June, shortly before the city hosted the start of the Tour de France, Leeds City Council approved a report called Cycling Starts Here which outlined plans to grow levels of participation in cycling in Leeds and the wider region.
9 thoughts on “Work starts on Leeds-Bradford cycle superhighway”
So out of the £30million pot,
So out of the £30million pot, how much is the link costing? Nowhere near £2m per mile I hope
dafyddp wrote:So out of the
You may not be familiar with road building costs. It’s roughly £24m per mile of motorway, £13m per mile of dual carriageway and £8m per mile for a normal road. Start going over things on bridges and you can add a zero. Start tunneling and you can add two zeroes. So a decent cycle route say half the width of a normal road and built to the same spec would on average be £4m a mile. It doesn’t need to be quite the same spec but £2m per mile does not sound out of whack. This is proper route mind not just slinging tarmac over an old footpath and stenciling a picture of a Bike on it.
Woooohooooo for the canal
Woooohooooo for the canal path upgrade!!!
Not quite sure who’ll be
Not quite sure who’ll be using this new link, as at either end you’ll be deposited into the middle of some fairly unpleasant one way, city centre loop roads. More worryingly, Leeds’ record on transport infrastructure is not good: take a look at our guided bus lanes (only work with certain buses), our supertram (years in gestation, never happened) and now the trolley buses could be coming.
Shame Leeds did not take the opportunity to support cycle routes running through North Leeds to the Universities – where usage would be high and uptake rapid.
I think the £30m could have
I think the £30m could have been spent a lot better than on one highway joining Bradford. Leeds has such dangerous roads for cyclists in the city, we still don’t have a cycle way around the outter ringroad, in fact when I did commute by bike I thought a duel carriageway ring road far safer for cycling on than routes into town and mixing with parked cars, slow moving traffic, zombie peds and nodders.
The problem LCC has had is that Sustrans have created routes in Leeds aimed more at walkers than cycle commuters. The Alwoodley route is a joke, you cant travel more than quarter mile before either a anti motor bike gate and they are covered in glass and in summer used heavily by dog walkers.
Above is an example of LCC at cycle lanes and yes thats a one way road with the cycle lane in the door zone, it also crosses a path and has about a meter of cycle route in the middle of the road, its very odd.
Just spotted on the map they
Just spotted on the map they have Kirkstall Road as the A55 not A65 – oops
Will be very interested to see how they get through/over/around Armley gyratory – unless it drops onto the canal?
I live in Shipley and currently travel by road as the canal is a pain – I think it may become a racetrack once re-surfaced (like the bit after Kirkstall is now)
seanie1965 wrote:
Will be
It goes to the North of the Armley gyratory along Armely Road, then along to where the Yorkshire Post building was and along Wellington Street
Hang on,
LCC are spend
Hang on,
LCC are spend £30million on linking up already existing cycle lanes. Would have been better spent opening up newer routes into the countryside. Otley, Ilkley and Harrogate all spring to mind.
Encouraging people to cycle along Leeds Road from Bradford with the way people drive in that area is tantermount to murder.
I suppose something is better than nothing.
10 years ago I used to
10 years ago I used to commute between Leeds and Halifax most days by bike. Getting in and out of Leeds was horrible and even as a fairly experienced cyclist I felt the need to take to the pavement from time to time just to get away for the aggression shown by some drivers and the general lay out of the roads.