Leeds City Council awarded funding for new Active Travel schemes
A public consultation on the plans is due to take place during this financial year
Leeds City Council say major investment into active travel will help towards their aim of eliminating serious injury and deaths on the city’s roads by 2040.
They’ve been awarded nearly £7.8 million by the government for five schemes, in a bid to boost walking, cycling and the use of public transport.
There’ll be a public consultation on the plans, including for segregated cycling tracks in Holbeck and Westgate, later in the financial year.
It's all part of the Government's £200 million Active Travel Fund Tranche 4 pot of money, which will enable local residents to choose more active and sustainable modes of travel.
It's hoped up to 16 million extra walking and cycling trips will be made as a result of the project.
The five areas that make up the pot of money funded to Leeds City Council are:
- £2.9 million for Armley Town Street – plans aim to enhance and uplift Armley Town Street whilst providing bus priority improvements
- £0.35 million for Bentley Residential Streets, Meanwood – traffic management measures in the area
- £0.4 million for Eastern Gateway, Leeds City Centre – safer, segregated, two-way cycle tracks on Templar Street and Bridge Street to link together existing cycle tracks on Vicar Lane and Eastgate. Improvements to pavements and pedestrian crossings are also included in the plans
- £2.3 million for Holbeck Connector, Whitehall Road – extend segregated cycle tracks on Whitehall Road, near the Wellington Place offices, to link to the existing cycle track adjacent to A643 Ingram Distributor, near Dunelm
- £1.8 million for Westgate Connector – extend segregated cycle tracks on Westgate and create a safer, segregated, two-way cycle track on Park Lane and Burley Street providing a safe link from the western end of Burley Road to the western edge of the city centre. Improvements to pavements and pedestrian crossings are also included in the plans
It's hoped the schemes, if they are given the go-ahead, will be operational in the city by March 2025.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for infrastructure and sustainable development, said: “This funding is about making walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport more desirable, with many of the schemes providing links to existing cycling infrastructure, creating a wider cycling network and a better-connected Leeds.
"Investments like this help toward our Vision Zero Strategy of eliminating serious injury and deaths on Leeds roads by 2040 by creating safer walking and cycling links in key areas of the city and improving road safety for everyone.
“I want to increase the areas of Leeds that provide more options to how people can get around and I want residents to feel safe when walking and cycling on Leeds streets”.
The plans aim to make walking, cycling and using public transport more desirable.
They also feed into the Leeds Transport Strategy targets of increasing cycling by 400%, walking by 33% and bus uptake by 130%, with the cash following on from successful bids in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of funding from Active Travel England's Active Travel Fund.
In all, this creates a total of £22 million being secured for areas in Leeds, thanks to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and its local authority partners from the Department for Transport's Active Travel Fund.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “We want to make West Yorkshire a better-connected region with an easier-to-use and greener transport network. Cycling, walking and wheeling have a vital role to play and it is fantastic that we have secured funding to improve facilities in Leeds and beyond.
“This additional investment will help us boost connections, grow our economy and tackle the climate emergency as we aim to become a net zero carbon region by 2038.”