Milestone in scheme for key new route in bid to keep Leeds on move

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) handed development approval status to the East Leeds Orbital Road scheme at a meeting on Friday.

It means the preparation of what is described as a “high-level business case” for the £100m project can now take place.

The 4.6-mile road would be a 50mph dual carriageway designed to keep east Leeds on the move if plans to build thousands of homes in the area come to fruition.

It would run from the A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road at Redhall through the eastern outskirts of the city down as far as Thorpe Park, close to junction 46 of the M1.

Existing routes earmarked for links to the new road include the A58 Wetherby Road and A64 York Road as well as Skeltons Lane, Barwick Road and Manston Lane.

There would also be a series of improvements to the A6120, including additional facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Should the scheme get the go-ahead, its delivery would be managed by Leeds City Council. A report prepared for a recent council planning meeting says it is hoped that the road will be open by 2021.

Funding for the project – which has been talked about off and on for more than 20 years – would be provided by a mix of public sector cash and developer contributions.

Privately-led housing schemes in the pipeline for east Leeds include the Northern Quadrant, a 2,000-home development to the north and east of Whinmoor.

A WYCA report on the East Leeds Orbital Road says it has been identified as an “early win” initiative.

The report also says that the road project would “facilitate the regeneration” of the east of the city.

Objectives outlined include improving connectivity to employment areas and easing congestion on the A6120.

The report adds that the road would aim to “minimise the impact of traffic arising from new homes on existing neighbourhoods, at all stages of development”.

Friday’s meeting was also given an update on the progress of other schemes in the 12 months since the formation of the WYCA brought together Leeds, Wakefield, Kirklees, Bradford, Calderdale and York councils plus what was Metro, West Yorkshire’s passenger transport authority.

Projects discussed included Wakefield’s eastern relief road, extensions to rail station car parks and the Pontefract northern link road.

WYCA chairman Coun Peter Box said: “[The] reports show the scale of what we have achieved across each West Yorkshire district, York and into the city region in the combined authority’s first year.

“We know that locally managed schemes have and are still outstripping national initiatives, which shows why it is so important we work towards a full, no-strings-attached, devolution deal that will make it possible for us to meet our commitment to create over 60,000 new jobs, provide training for 50,000 people, build 200,000 new affordable homes and deliver an efficient transport network.”