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This could be your city centre
View our plans to transform the city centre into a more attractive, public friendly space. The feedback portal is live from 11 March until 12 April 2019.
View our plans and have your say online
Harrogate to Leeds, via Alwoodley
We’re seeking views on proposals to improve bus journeys and junctions between Harrogate and Leeds via Alwoodley, and build a Park and Ride facility at Alwoodley Gates. Plans also include improvements to the King Lane/Stonegate Road junction and the A61 Harrogate Road and A659 The Avenue junction in Harewood.
Our improvement plans and feedback portal are live until 15 March 2019.
View our plans and have your say online
Background
Buses are the most used form of public transport in Leeds. They provide a vital link to jobs, education, training, shopping and health services. Within 10 years, our aim is for Leeds to double the current number of passengers.
New buses
Bus companies in Leeds will provide around 300 new and environmentally clean buses. One thousand new bus stops with real-time information are also planned.
Many buses now include:
- audio and/or visual next stop announcements
- free Wi-Fi
- improved seating
- USB/wireless charging
- contactless payments and ticketless smartphone options
Park and ride
Travelling using Park and Ride is an important element of our plans for Connecting Leeds – it helps to reduce congestion and improve the city’s air quality through decreasing the number of cars entering the city centre.
Elland Road and Temple Green Park and Ride facilities have been hugely successful, with over 2 million journeys made so far. Each week, Park and Ride removes 9,000 cars from city centre roads. The current Park and Ride fleet at Elland Road and Temple Green have been updated to ultra-low emission buses.
With the success of the current sites, Connecting Leeds, alongside the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, have plans to expand the Elland Road site and add new Park and Rides in the south, west and the north of Leeds. Find out more below on our proposed developments.
Find out more about Park and Ride sites in Leeds, facilities and prices at the WY Metro website.
The Elland Road site currently has 800 spaces, with demand being greater than the number of spaces available on certain days. We plan to expand the site with up to 550 additional parking spaces. This will provide spaces for existing users and also encourage others to use Park and Ride.
We are also working with bus operators to increase Park and Ride bus frequency to every 6 to 7 minutes at peak times.
Planning for the expansion has been approved by Leeds City Council’s Plans Panel in January 2019 and work is due to commence in March 2019.
Find out more about design proposals for Elland Road Park and Ride.
The Temple Green site currently has 1,000 spaces and is nearly full on certain days. Connecting Leeds are considering plans to extend the site by approximately 400 spaces. We will consult with any affected residents or stakeholders before seeking planning approval.
Traffic flows show that over 25 per cent of commuters along Harrogate Road are travelling to the city centre with limited alternative travel options. Our analysis shows that there is high demand for a Park and Ride facility here, especially for commuters from countryside areas on the edge of north Leeds. This would better connect these often rural areas to the city, giving more options for travel and expanding city centre employment options further afield.
Connecting Leeds are consulting with local residents, commuters from north Leeds and various stakeholders on proposals for a Park and Ride facility at Alwoodley Gates, opposite The Grammar School at Leeds. This would be smaller than the main sites in Leeds and would aim to reduce congestion into the city centre along Harrogate Road (A61).
Find out more about the Alwoodley Gates Park and Ride plans.
In January 2019, Leeds City Council’s Plans Panel approved planning for a Park and Ride site located off the M621 in Stourton. Construction work will begin in summer 2019 and the site could be open and operational from 2020. Most recently, the site has also secured funding for five new, ultra-low emission, electric buses from the Department for Transport that will solely serve Stourton Park and Ride journeys.
Watch our Stourton plans videoExternal link
Stourton park and ride will:
- Provide a world class gateway into Leeds City centre from the M1/M621: ensuring every major route from the south, east and west has the option of using Park and Ride facilities.
- Form part of a wider strategy for the Wakefield to Leeds route: Proposals include bus lanes, smart traffic lights and limited stop bus services, helping deliver quick and reliable journey times for existing bus users.
- Provide better connections between Stourton, Middleton and Belle Isle: the site will ensure communities are better connected by foot, cycle and car, whilst providing direct, affordable and convenient bus travel. This will give locals access to employment and training opportunities along Hunslet Road and Leeds city centre.
- Help us create a more people-focused city: Having fewer cars on the streets frees up space for people, enabling us to create more healthy and liveable streets in which to move around, spend time and have fun.
Further benefits for the local community
Stourton Park and Ride will have the following features:
- Ideally located on the road network, with direct access from the M621 motorway and Wakefield Road (A61 South). This will reduce the number of vehicles using Hunslet Road, benefiting residents of Middleton and Belle Isle when accessing the city centre
- Those living within walking distance of the site will benefit from access to more frequent bus services. Proposals will complement planned investment in existing bus services with brand new buses to be introduced on services 12 and 13
- A new bus lane along Wakefield Road past the site to help deliver quicker and more reliable services for existing bus users travelling to Leeds from Rothwell, Lofthouse and Wakefield
- Waiting restrictions in the area surrounding the site will be developed in consultation with local residents to ensure vehicles using the site do not cause disruption for people living nearby
- The site will be limited to 1,200 spaces, including dedicated disabled, family and motorcycle bays. Former proposals to enable further expansion of the site in future are not now being progressed, as a direct consequence of concerns raised about the impact of a larger site by the local community.
- Secure cycle storage to help promote ‘cycle and ride’, with better routes for cyclists linking the site to Middleton and Belle Isle
- Existing footpaths between Parnaby Road and Ring Road Middleton will be diverted through the site to avoid impacting on Hunslet Cemetery
- Zero emission electric buses will serve the site every 10 to 15 minutes from early morning into the evening
- Electric vehicle charging points will promote zero emission car use
- Extensive landscaping using raised banks, plants, hedges and evergreen trees to provide screening from the surrounding residential areas and Hunslet Cemetery and promote a clean and green site
- CCTV will cover both the site itself and the neighbouring Hunslet Cemetery, increasing security for local residents in the area
- Plans for the site include solar panels, a ‘green wall’ lined with deciduous plants and facilities such as a changing places toilet and a café
Find out more about the Stourton Park and Ride proposals.
