Armley Gyratory roadworks: Leeds council issues update as bad weather delays re-opening date

Since 8pm Monday, July 24 there has been daily night-time partial closures around the Armley Gyratory for surfacing works. The road re-opens during the daytime with 30mph speed limits and other traffic management measures in place to allow improvements to be carried out safely and were planned to coincide with reduced levels of traffic during the school summer holidays.

The works, which mark a significant milestone towards phase one construction completion, were expected to be completed in time to reopen this Thursday (August 24) but following recent bad weather Leeds City Council has confirmed that re-opening is unlikely to come until September at the earliest.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson, said: “Improvement works to the Armley Gyratory started on 24 July are progressing well on the complex process of new surfacing. Unfortunately, due to the wet weather, the most recent being the rain on Friday night (18 August) where no work could take place, the works are now expected to complete on 31 August, with the roads reopening on 1 September. But this is still very much weather dependent.

“By carrying out these works on weekday nights during the school holidays we aim to reduce the impact on motorists and the wider community. We are however avoiding works over the bank holiday weekend (Friday 25 Aug to Monday 28 Aug).”

The works are particularly complex and have been segmented into seven parts, as work progresses clockwise around the gyratory, with a total of 19 phases of activity. These include planning the existing carriageway, ironworks, laying binder, tarmac surfacing and associated white lining. Because of the scale of the road surfacing, with different work areas and days, it will need different diversions and local access plans.

Leeds council recently confirmed the successful reopening of both the Eastbound A647 Stanningley Bypass, following resurfacing works to complement the successful Westbound joint and resurfacing programme, and the historic Harewood Bridge, following essential waterproofing, resurfacing and foot path repair works. Both routes had been closed since July.