Manston Lane link road saga finally over, council report confirms

A six month long saga into an unfinished link-road in Leeds appears to have reached a happy ending, following a glowing report from Leeds City Council officers.
The MLLR during its construction.The MLLR during its construction.
The MLLR during its construction.

The Manston Lane Link Road (MLLR), which forms part of the East Leeds Orbital Road, had been expected to be completed alongside the Thorpe Park Shopping Centre back in October.

But issues such as bad weather over the Autumn and the discovery of old coal mines have led to delays.

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This led to the council’s city plans panel passing a resolution in January that developers should return to give regular updates to panel members about the state of the work.

The MLLR during its construction.The MLLR during its construction.
The MLLR during its construction.

A report by Leeds City Council officers confirmed the road was now open to traffic, adding HGV traffic has already decreased on nearby roads, and that “awareness will increase over time”.

It stated: “Officers are pleased to confirm the MLLR opened to traffic on May 10 and work continues to complete the entire project (e.g. landscaping) by the end of the month.

“Awareness of the road now being open will obviously increase over time but movements from vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists have been observed. In particular, Longs of Leeds are already making good use of the road which should help reduce HGV movements through Grossgates (sic).

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“The Thorpe Park bus service has also diverted off Selby Road and onto the MLLR to provide the originally indented route to Crossgates and beyond.”

It ends months of frustrating delays for councillors and locals.

Members of Leeds City Council’s city plans panel had heard in October last year that the road would be completed by December 2018.

Following this, at a meeting in December, it was then claimed that the scheme would not be complete until February 28, 2019.

Less than one month later, the delay was moved to April 30 before, finally, the road was opened to traffic on May 10.