What is Leeds City Council looking to achieve with constant changes to road layouts? - Yorkshire Post Letters

As a local resident, I sometimes wonder what Leeds City Council's obsession with changing the layouts of our roads sets out to achieve.

There would seem to be no respite from the constant road works and traffic schemes affecting this area.

The recent major changes made on Otley Road was intended to improve the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. The programme of work took months to complete, causing inconvenience and frustration to road users due to the lane closures and traffic jams.

The end result was a short stretch of cycle lane to the Shaw Lane traffic lights. The cycle lane was constructed over part of the original bus lane leading up to the lights. A new traffic light was sited on an island between the old bus lane and outer lane, forcing buses out of the bus lane to join the rest of the traffic waiting to drive straight on. The inside lane became a left turn only for vehicles with the cycle lane and pedestrian crossing merging on Shaw Lane.

I am not sure how this costly scheme has been an improvement for those using Otley Road. It would be useful to hear any cyclists' comments.

Having used the crossing, it is unclear who has priority and there is a danger that people on foot could collide with those on cycles. The resulting loss of road capacity is causing significant tailbacks of stationary idling vehicles. It would be interesting to see if it has increased pollution in the area.

The newly installed set of lights on Otley Road has been demolished twice by vehicles colliding with it. One of the accidents involved was serious when a car ended up on its roof in the middle of the cycle lane.

Buses now have to join the queues of traffic waiting to go through the junction lights instead of having their own dedicated bus lane. Longer bus journeys will not encourage people to leave their cars at home. Many workers do not have a choice but to use their cars, and in fairness, they do pay road tax for the privilege.

Other highway modifications in the area have included the placing of speed bumps on Weetwood Lane.

Understandable to have traffic calming near the school, but placing bumps further up the road away from the school has resulted in motorists behaving like rally drivers in order to avoid them.

One has to dodge the frantically swerving cars coming in the opposite direction as their drivers endeavour heroically to spare themselves the trauma of a speed bump.

It has certainly failed to deter the would - be racing drivers taking these traffic calming lumps at extremely high speeds. No speed bump will save any pedestrian from these menaces.

Better to use eyes and ears if you are fortunate to have them in working order.

Sadly, our part of Leeds is very likely to be on the receiving end of the Council's dream project involving the messing around with the Lawnswood Roundabout despite strong local objections.

We may think that we have had our fair share of disruption but this one will be the big daddy of them all. Love our area but wish they would just go away.