Lighting Neville Street

[tyke bhoy]

Not entirley related but I noticed this morning at the end of Neville Street where it becomes Bishopgate Street a road sign saying "work begins here on 16th August for 7 weeks". Given even minor roadworks at this point on the loop is liely to cause chaos does anybody know whats going on. Also as a warning to those that can avoid it but given there are only 4 entrances to central Leeds from south of the river it will be a bit difficult.

[raveydavey]

tyke bhoy wrote: Not entirley related but I noticed this morning at the end of Neville Street where it becomes Bishopgate Street a road sign saying "work begins here on 16th August for 7 weeks". Given even minor roadworks at this point on the loop is liely to cause chaos does anybody know whats going on. Also as a warning to those that can avoid it but given there are only 4 entrances to central Leeds from south of the river it will be a bit difficult. As someone who has no option but to pass there twice a day, I'm dreading it - and why it wasn't planned to take place during the quieter school holidays is anyones guess.

[tyke bhoy]

still little evidence of what is happening. The inside lane is coned off with access to the loading area/ bus stop provided. Unfortunately any vehicle entering that area will be prevented from leaving by any vehicle in front of it rendering it useless to buses if the Queens is taking a delivery

[Leodian]

tyke bhoy wrote: still little evidence of what is happening. The inside lane is coned off with access to the loading area/ bus stop provided. Unfortunately any vehicle entering that area will be prevented from leaving by any vehicle in front of it rendering it useless to buses if the Queens is taking a delivery This may be related. In a report on page 15 of the YEP today it states:-"Work was due to start today on a major new scheme to make it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to get to Leeds City railway station". There is more detail in the YEP report.

[tyke bhoy]

Leodian wrote: tyke bhoy wrote: still little evidence of what is happening. The inside lane is coned off with access to the loading area/ bus stop provided. Unfortunately any vehicle entering that area will be prevented from leaving by any vehicle in front of it rendering it useless to buses if the Queens is taking a delivery This may be related. In a report on page 15 of the YEP today it states:-"Work was due to start today on a major new scheme to make it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to get to Leeds City railway station". There is more detail in the YEP report. To be honest, short of a subway I can’t see how they could make it easier. The problem is that pedestrians/cyclists coming down Park Row need to cross 3 lanes of the loop to gain access to New Station Street and that’s against the flow of traffic on said street. They maybe reshaping the junction by widening the pavement on the west side of Bishopgate Street at the expense of the massive Island outside the Yorkshire Penny Bank (flares/observatory) but that is likely to be detrimental to smooth flow of traffic on the loop because its already a sharp lefthander for traffic bound for the Queens drop off or Whitehall Road and Wellington Street.Reshaping is my guess as this mornings drive past showed they have removed the kerb stones between the bus stop and city square and have dug a shallow trench in the road surface that initially follows the line of the kerb from the bus stop into the middle of the inside lane before curving round to run almost straight up its middle to city square.More chaos was caused this morning by, yet again, a 7.5 tonner parked up on the inside lane of Neville Street on the double yellow lines unloading into the Network Rail arch than by the lane closure on Bishopgate Street.

[raveydavey]

tyke bhoy wrote: Leodian wrote: tyke bhoy wrote: still little evidence of what is happening. The inside lane is coned off with access to the loading area/ bus stop provided. Unfortunately any vehicle entering that area will be prevented from leaving by any vehicle in front of it rendering it useless to buses if the Queens is taking a delivery This may be related. In a report on page 15 of the YEP today it states:-"Work was due to start today on a major new scheme to make it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to get to Leeds City railway station". There is more detail in the YEP report. To be honest, short of a subway I can’t see how they could make it easier. The problem is that pedestrians/cyclists coming down Park Row need to cross 3 lanes of the loop to gain access to New Station Street and that’s against the flow of traffic on said street. They maybe reshaping the junction by widening the pavement on the west side of Bishopgate Street at the expense of the massive Island outside the Yorkshire Penny Bank (flares/observatory) but that is likely to be detrimental to smooth flow of traffic on the loop because its already a sharp lefthander for traffic bound for the Queens drop off or Whitehall Road and Wellington Street.Reshaping is my guess as this mornings drive past showed they have removed the kerb stones between the bus stop and city square and have dug a shallow trench in the road surface that initially follows the line of the kerb from the bus stop into the middle of the inside lane before curving round to run almost straight up its middle to city square.More chaos was caused this morning by, yet again, a 7.5 tonner parked up on the inside lane of Neville Street on the double yellow lines unloading into the Network Rail arch than by the lane closure on Bishopgate Street. Having seen how thing look to be panning out, I've got a nasty suspicion that we might be about to see the existing three lanes reduced to just two lanes of traffic and a new cycle lane (referred to in the YEP) to accommodate a wider footpath on the station side.Even with the lighter summer traffic things are snarling up quite badly there already. And I agree that the powers that be need to stop people parking up on Neville Street / Bishopsgate Street due to the chaos it causes, enforcing the existing regulations would be a good start.

[tyke bhoy]

Certainly looks like they are reducing it to two lanes, especially if the YEP report is correct about widening on both sides. It needs to be 3 lanes because it is constantly fed by either the two lanes from the loop or two lanes from Neville Street but the exit is blocked to allow pedestrians to cross and buses/taxis to exit New Station Street.Also worrying is that the YEP quotes the work is being done during the school holidays. Er didn't they start 2 to 3 weeks ago and are half over and that both the YEP and Metro are saying the work is expected to take 10 weeks (the road sign said 7) and these usually are underestimated by about 50%

[tyke bhoy]

Well on this morning’s drive past the outside of the trench is being lined with kerb stones and is very close to the edge of what was the inside lane so it is now virtually impossible for 3 lanes to be fitted in. Also the roadworks aren’t causing much of an obstruction compared to what the result will be given that almost all what is currently coned off will become footpath and cyclepath. The only area coned off that presumably will return to being road is the island created to separate the Queens loading bay and the bus stop from what was the middle lane. It truly will be fun and games if they are widening the other side because the coning off to protect the workforce will be almost all but one lane and will occur after traffic starts building up again in early SeptemberI still can’t believe the two lane idea given that Bishopgate street is constantly being fed by two lanes of traffic either from Swinegate (already on the loop) or Neville Street joining the loop but obviously can’t have constant egress due to the Pedestrian Crossing/New Station Street egress. Swinegate and Neville Street backed up with congestion in the 3 lanes on Bishopgate Street for most of the day, I can only dread to imagine what chaos it will cause in the rush hours in early December.As for the suggestion that more cars should use the Inner Ring Road well that in my opinion is just laughable. Do they really think much of the traffic on Swinegate or Neville Street is trying to get from the South of the City to the North? Over 30 years ago when I was being transported to school in Moortown having recently moved to Beeston we were using the Inner ring Road to avoid the town centre. Most of the traffic on Neville Street and Swinegate is there because it is going somewhere in the City Centre or doesn’t want to go as far SouthWest as Elland Road to travel from the South East of the City Centre to the West/South West.Access to the city centre from the Inner Ring Road? Well firstly on the west side there is Wellington Street which already suffers due to buses parking up on King Street and the very limited green cycle it gets on the lights at the junction of King Street and Quebec Street due to the latter’s inclusion in the loop. Next we have Westgate/The Headrow which is pretty much useless for access to anywhere south of the Headrow due to Bus Box and other restrictions. Clay Pit lane is next up and OK for the Merrion/St johns Centre vicinity and Albion Street. New Briggate is next which is OK for the Market car parks eventually. After that is the Woodpecker junction and pretty much useless for City Centre access in that Direction. East side starts with East Street which is probably the easiest access to the Market Car Parks other than Crown Point Bridge. The next realistic exit is to Vicar Lane but due to restrictions city centre access from there is pretty much limited to Vicar Lane as far as the Headrow, the Headrow as far as New Briggate and New Briggate. The next exit takes you into Woodhouse Lane car park if you are not careful but also is useful for the Merrion/St Johns/Albion street. After that we have Westgate and Wellington Street for which my earlier comments in the opposite direction hold.Finally while there is the new cycle hub in the station to encourage cycling rail commuters to leave their bikes in Leeds rather than take them on the train I am a bit confused as to how a cycle lane West to East is gong to work unless they also intend moving back the stop line for the lights on Bishopgate Street. Presumably there is no way of getting cyclists down to Bishopgate Street road level before the final supporting pillar of the Queens which means the cycle lane would be a sharp right out of New Station Street and across to Boar Lane. But how are you going to keep this path pedestrian free??

[raveydavey]

When this is narrowed to two lanes just wait until there is a problem on the Armley Gyratory or Wellington Street - the Loop will be gridlocked at City Square within minutes.It's bad enough now when that happens with 3 lanes open, but with two lanes and a sharper corner at the lights, it's going to be a nightmare. I wonder if the Highways Department actually live in the real world.

[raveydavey]

This remodelling is already proving to be a nightmare. Even with the lighter traffic due to the school holidays it was already tailing back right past Bridgewater Place and up to Bewleys Hotel, and was stop start all the way from there to City Square tonight. From a glance it looked similar down Swinegate, which is the other road that feeds this busy intersection.Goodness knows what it is going to be like once the kids are back at school and the universities go back.It's quite clear that the existing three lanes will be made into just two with a very tight corner (well over 90 degrees) for traffic wanting to head out via Wellington Street or towards Aire Street and the station. The additional pavement that is going to be laid out is hardly worth the effort and of course we will have the obligatory cycle lane for the very few cyclists that actually use the route.I honestly can't understand the Highways Department thinking on this, unless there is some sort of deliberate wish to gridlock the city centre every day.