Multi-million pound Leeds cycling infrastructure plans under spotlight

Plans to invest £6.5m on further improvements to cycling infrastructure in Leeds will be under the spotlight later this week.

Proposals for CityConnect2, which would deliver the first part of an additional 10km of segregated cycle lanes in Leeds, will be discussed by council bosses on Wednesday.

It follows the recent announcement that more than 100,000 trips on the CityConnect Cycle Superhighway have already made since it opened in June last year.

The 23km CityConnect runs from Seacroft to Leeds city centre and on through Pudsey to Bradford city centre and also features improved access along the Leeds Liverpool Canal towpath between Leeds and Shipley.

A successful bid has now been put in to the government’s Cycling City Ambition Grant to secure additional funding for further infrastructure improvements in Leeds, Kirklees, Wakefield, Calderdale, Bradford, Leeds and York.

For Leeds, it means a further £6.5m to begin the first element of CityConnect2.

This would extend the cycle superhighway through the city centre along Wellington Street to City Square, from Queen Street to Westgate, from Leeds Bridge into the South Bank and from north to south along the line of St Peter’s Street.

It aims to improve access and make it easier and faster to move around the city for residents and visitors, including students attending the new education hub at the South Bank.

The development of CityConnect2 would be carried out in phases as funding becomes available, with the further elements of it to offer up to 10km of new segregated lanes in total including:

•    Extension of cycle superhighway from Leeds city centre to Elland Road and then on to south Leeds and Morley
•    To provide additional sections to create a complete ‘loop’ around Leeds city centre
•    Additional segregated superhighway from the city centre south-east to access South Bank with a focus on the new education hub there used by 10,000 students each day
If approved by executive board, the first phase of CityConnect2 aims to start on site in June and is expected to be completed by May 2018.

Leeds City Council executive member for regeneration, transport and planning Cllr Richard Lewis said: “These plans form part of our long-term transport strategy to make it easier to get around the city. We know that there is no quick-win but it is important we invest now in order to encourage safe cycling and walking and the wide range of benefits these would bring, including reducing congestion and ultimately improving air quality across the city, now and in the future.

“CityConnect2 along with other improvements to the city’s cycling infrastructure will help address many of the concerns raised during the recent transport conversation, which attracted over 8000 replies, which highlighted that many people would like to cycle more, but felt that the biggest barrier is a lack of good infrastructure.

“A lot has been learned from the issues which arose during the construction of the first part of the cycle superhighway which will help guide the next phases as the project continues to develop.”