Leeds City Council wants to establish a cycle track from the suburbs to the university. They intend consulting on their proposals for the section from Shaw Lane to the university from the 30th January to the 5th March. You can see their proposals and comment on them here.

Where the A660 crosses Woodhouse Moor, the council proposes:

• Having cyclists and pedestrians together using the tarmac pavement outbound
• Removing 80cm of grass verge to create a segregated cycle lane inbound.
• Having the cycle tracks running behind bus stops. What this means is that there would be motorised vehicles in front of the bus stops on the road, and cycles on the cycle tracks that would run behind the bus stops.

The proposed cycle tracks would be 2 metres wide, which is the minimum width required for a cycle lane. It’s hard to understand why the space required for the proposed cycle tracks across Woodhouse Moor would be at the expense of the existing park, when there would also be a 2 metres wide segregated cycle lane across Headingley Hill, with no loss of pavement or moving of wall to achieve this.

There will be four drop-in sessions as follows:

• Thursday 16 February 2023, 3-7pm, St Chad’s Parish Centre, Otley Road, LS16 5JT.
• Tuesday 21 February 2023, 3-7pm, HEART Headingley Enterprise & Arts Centre, Bennett Road, LS6 3HN.
• Saturday 25 February 2023, 1.30-4.30pm, St Augustine’s Wrangthorn Church, Hyde Park Terrace, LS6 1BJ.
• Tuesday 28 February 2023, 10am-3:30pm, Room 6, Leeds University Union, Lifton Place, LS2 9JZ.

I’ve summarised the council’s proposals below. Any language describing the proposals as “better” is the council’s.

Section 1: A660 Otley Road from Alma Road to Shire Oak Road

Grid A

• Re-configure and make better use of the space and paving outside the front of Headingley Central
• Provide a segregated cycle path between the road and a path for people walking and wheeling
• Replace bus shelter with a flag stop, and use sheltered walkway of Headingley Central as a place to wait for buses
• Real-time information screens for bus times, placed under sheltered walkway
• Narrow the carriageway and reduce speed limit from 30mph to 20mph between Shaw Lane/St Anne’s Road junction and St Michael’s Road

Grid B

• North Lane junction to remain signalised but with the addition of a diagonal-crossing
• Responsive crossing times for people that need longer to cross
• Priority green signal release at junction for people cycling
• Metal guard rails and concrete bollards removed

Section 2: A660 Otley Road/Headingley Lane, St Michael’s Road junction

Grid C

• Close St Michael’s Road/A660 junction to motorised traffic preventing rat-running
• Create a space surrounding the War Memorial for benches, planting and possibly a rain garden
• Provide cycle parking
• Move existing bus stop from outside St. Michael and All Angels’ Church to the new pedestrianised area on St. Michael’s Road
• Upgraded, bus-responsive traffic signals
• Eight standard parking bays replaced with four blue badge parking bays and public space.

Section 3: A660 Headingley Lane from Spring Road to Grosvenor Road

• New bus stop with real-time information screens placed outside The Golden Beam (J D Wetherspoon). This will replace infrequently used bus stops on A660 Headingley Lane at North Grange Road, North Hill Road and Richmond Avenue junctions
• Remove pedestrian guard rails, islands and hatchings from centre of the A660 Headingley Lane to create more space for improvements, including wider footpaths

Section 4: A660 Headingley Lane/Woodhouse Lane, Victoria Road junction

Grid D

• Close Regent Park Avenue junction to motorised traffic
• All arms of Victoria Road and A660 Headingley Lane junction signalised with crossings for people walking, wheeling, and cycling
• Create a dedicated lane for motorised vehicles turning left from A660 into Victoria Road
• People cycling outbound, across the arm of Victoria Road junction, to be given priority, whilst left-turning vehicles are held by signals to prevent collisions
• Create a public space and remove advertising billboards to create a more pleasant environment
• Ban the right turn into Victoria Road
• Remove overgrown shrubs

Section 5: A660 Woodhouse Lane, Hyde Park Road junction (Hyde Park Corner) to Cliff Road

Grid E

• Build-out existing footway on corner of Woodhouse Street/A660, directly outside The Hyde Park pub, so it’s clearer to motorists this is an existing banned left turn
• Ban straight-ahead movement from Hyde Park Road to Woodhouse Street
• Cliff Road made one-way, with direction of travel from Woodhouse Street to Woodhouse Lane
• Ban right turn out of Cliff Road onto A660 Woodhouse Lane
• New signalised crossing between the bus shelter and Cliff Road
• Traffic signals placed on outbound bus lane of A660 Woodhouse Lane, giving buses priority
• Re-surface existing path (Avenue Walk) so people cycling can either use the bus lane or this path.
• Eleven trees removed to make space for improvements*

*A qualified arborist has carried out a complete arboricultural tree survey of the 73 trees along this section of the A660. The council state that where possible they have sought to avoid impacting any trees however, these plans would impact 11 semi-mature trees. Varieties impacted include Oak, Lime and Sycamore – two are rated good quality with the remaining nine rated low quality.

All these trees were found to have a mixture of issues, including squirrel damage, soil compaction, root disturbance, close proximity to a bus shelter, girdling roots, or in a general poor condition.

The council state that in order to improve the design of our streets and make them wider and safer, they need to put people first. To achieve this along the A660, and particularly at this section of road where there is a high footfall of school students, they state that they need to remove these trees. Relocating the trees would not be possible due to the issues listed above. However, the council’s policy is to replace every tree removed with a 3:1 semi-mature ratio.

Section 6: A660 Woodhouse Lane, Rampart Road to Clarendon Road

Grid F

• New signalised crossing on A660 Woodhouse Lane between Woodhouse Moor and Rampart Road
• Responsive crossing times for people that need longer to cross
• Ban right turn out of Rampart Road
• Resurface existing path (Avenue Walk). People cycling can either use the bus lane or this path

Grid G

• New signalised crossing on A660 Woodhouse Lane east of Clarendon Road junction
• Ban left turn out of Clarendon Road
• New signalised crossing for people cycling between Raglan Road and Clarendon Road
• Existing bus stop relocated to other side of the junction (west)
• Improved landscaping to replace concrete planters
• Responsive crossing times for people that need longer to cross

Section 7: A660 Woodhouse Lane from St Mark’s Street to St Mark’s Road

Grid H

• Make St Mark’s Street one-way from A660 Woodhouse Lane
• New loading bay on St Mark’s Street for local businesses
• Widen footpaths

Grid I

• Relocate bus stop closer towards traffic signals, by Handsome Brewhouse, where footpath is wider
• People cycling inbound, across the arm of St Mark’s Road junction, given priority, whilst left-turning vehicles are held by signals to prevent collisions
• Segregated cycle paths help people cycling turn right at the junction, towards the Parkinson Building
• Increase the size of pedestrian waiting islands
• All movements retained but existing three lanes become two lanes:

• • left turn only
  • straight ahead with right turn

Section 8: Continuous crossings at side roads

• Add continuous crossings to the following side roads along the A660:

• • Alma Road
  • Dennistead Crescent
  • Chapel Street
  • Shire Oak Street
  • Bennett Road
  • Shire Oak Road
  • Bainbrigge Road
  • Spring Road
  • Springbank Crescent
  • Richmond Avenue
  • Oakfield
  • Richmond Road
  • The Poplars
  • Orville Gardens
  • Buckingham Road
  • North Grange Road
  • North Hill Road
  • Ashwood Villas
  • Cumberland Road
  • Grosvenor Road
  • St Mark’s Street
  • St. Mark’s Avenue

Section 9: Proposed segregated cycle path

• Two-metre segregated cycle path inbound and outbound along most of the route