£25m repair crisis over Leeds ring road

Tunnels and bridges serving the Leeds inner ring road are deteriorating at an alarming rate, despite repair work by the city council.

The authority now needs about £25m to keep the traffic moving and has warned that one structure, the Lovell Park Road Bridge over the A64, could have a lifespan of just 12 months without repairs.

A council report has warned that of the money required to safeguard the inner ring road around 75 per cent will have to come from the Government.

Safety inspectors are now carrying out checks on some structures every three months.

The inner ring road, parts of which are almost 50 years old, is a major route used by nearly 80,000 vehicles a day.

Gary Williamson, chief executive of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The problems with the inner ring road are a consequence of insufficient investment in both local and national infrastructure.”

• More details and background story in Saturday’s Yorkshire Post