Moves to allay concerns over Leeds park-and-ride

PLANNING chiefs have approved the construction of a £2.8m park- and-ride bus service near Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium, and assured residents the traffic impact will be “absolutely marginal”.

A meeting of Leeds City Council’s executive board has this week rubber-stamped the proposals for an express 15-minute bus service to the city centre, and space for 800 cars, on land that is currently used for matchday parking. The park and ride could open by May 2014.

Concerns have previously been raised about the impact of the service for residents in Beeston and Holbeck.

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Coun Richard Lewis, the development and economy portfolio holder, said the route was not yet set in stone, and added: “It just needs to get people into town and back out again. Increase in traffic will be absolutely marginal, and the residents won’t notice it. We believe it can work.”

He said the service is not expected to start operating at full capacity straight away, but added: “We are fully confident that we will get to where we need.”

Lib Dem group leader, Coun Stewart Golton, said there was broad support for the scheme and “we want it to be a success and to start making money”.

But he stressed there were still questions to be answered, and the authority has to ensure that motorists’ journeys on the bus “will be more rapid than the comfort of their own cars”.