Council bosses to discuss £6.5m Leeds cycling plans

Leeds council bosses are set to discuss £6.5million cycling improvement plans later this week.

Senior councillors will meet to consider the investment on further improvements to cycling infrastructure in the city on Wednesday.

The executive board will discuss proposals for the next stage of CityConnect - CityConnect2.

This would deliver the first part of an additional 10 km of segregated cycle lanes in Leeds.

CityConnect, runs from Seacroft to the 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.

Over 100k people have used CityConnect Cycle Superhighway since it opened last year Credit: ITV Yorkshire

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.

CityConnect aims to promote safe and efficient cycling including the use of lanes segregated from general traffic. It also features junction designs to accommodate cyclists, segregated cycle crossings, cycleway bypassing of bus stops, cycling priority on side roads and clear signage.

The Leeds scheme also includes improvements to pedestrian crossing facilities and enhanced public spaces.

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

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.