Chaos on Meadow Road in the morning rush hour

[tyke bhoy]

Firstly I am aware of on-going roadworks on Whitehall Road but I am unsure as to where exactly given it is only affecting inbound buses. Secondly I am unsure as to whether this is having an adverse effect in increasing eastbound volumes on Sweet Street or whether traffic is using Jack Lane and Marshall Street to avoid the undermentioned.However recently on a fairly regular basis the bus lane on Meadow Road between Jack Lane and Sweet Street (in front of what used to be Fletchers) has been made pretty much useless in the morning "rush hour" courtesy of a long queue of cars trying to access Sweet Street. The problem appears to be a combination of the Sweet Street mini roundabout just past Halfords and the car park which now occupies most of the former Fletchers and Hollywood Bowl sites. The roundabout gives right-of way to right turning eastbound traffic from Sweet Street and access to the car park seems to be time consuming. This means queues rapidly establish on the short stretch of westbound Sweet Street before the roundabout and back into the Meadow Road bus lane.Worryingly the problem does seem to be getting worse as the most extreme examples of this that I have noticed have been the last 2 mornings in what is still relatively light traffic due to school half term. On both days queuing has been almost back to Jack Lane in the bus lane with the middle lane also obstructed with cars attempting to join the queue. I dread to think what chaos would ensue next week when traffic levels return to near normal

[raveydavey]

tyke bhoy wrote: Firstly I am aware of on-going roadworks on Whitehall Road but I am unsure as to where exactly given it is only affecting inbound buses. Secondly I am unsure as to whether this is having an adverse effect in increasing eastbound volumes on Sweet Street or whether traffic is using Jack Lane and Marshall Street to avoid the undermentioned.However recently on a fairly regular basis the bus lane on Meadow Road between Jack Lane and Sweet Street (in front of what used to be Fletchers) has been made pretty much useless in the morning "rush hour" courtesy of a long queue of cars trying to access Sweet Street. The problem appears to be a combination of the Sweet Street mini roundabout just past Halfords and the car park which now occupies most of the former Fletchers and Hollywood Bowl sites. The roundabout gives right-of way to right turning eastbound traffic from Sweet Street and access to the car park seems to be time consuming. This means queues rapidly establish on the short stretch of westbound Sweet Street before the roundabout and back into the Meadow Road bus lane.Worryingly the problem does seem to be getting worse as the most extreme examples of this that I have noticed have been the last 2 mornings in what is still relatively light traffic due to school half term. On both days queuing has been almost back to Jack Lane in the bus lane with the middle lane also obstructed with cars attempting to join the queue. I dread to think what chaos would ensue next week when traffic levels return to near normal The roadworks on Whitehall Road are where Globe Road meets it - there is currently no right turn from Globe Road onto Whitehall Road and all other traffic is being controlled by temporary traffic lights. The works seem to extend quite some way in either direction.Bear in mind that Water Lane / Globe Road / Whitehall Road / Northern Street / Wellington Street is actually the signposted route for traffic coming from the south (motorways / Meadow Lane) wanting to head for the Gyratory or out along the IRR / Kirkstall Road and you can imagine the amount of traffic that is currently being displaced elsewhere...

[tyke bhoy]

As the Meadow Road congestion hasn't reoccurred it looks like it may have been local conditions at the beginning of last week or alternatively the car park was understaffed due to underestimating the volume of customers in a school holiday weekHaving taken the train in this morning I saw the extent of the roadworks on Whitehall Road and can just about understand why inbound buses have been diverted while outbound aren't.It looks like it's about to get worse in the vicinity though. Signs have sprung up warning of major gas repairs on the A653 (Dewsbury Road) in the City Centre from next Monday.Other than the short link between Meadow Lane and Victoria Road saying it will be closed it is unclear as to the extent of the works but the unplanned emergency works in the vicinity last year caused tailbacks of 3-4 miles back up the m621 and then a61 from Stourton

[tyke bhoy]

Well the congestion seems to be the opposite to what is expected. The morning rush hour sees congestion back to junction7 and beyond on the M621 despite lane closures, at the moment, having very little effect on inbound traffic. But outbound traffic in the evening rush hour seems to be coping relatively well despite Great Wilson Street both ways on to Meadow Lane and Meadow Lane itself being reduced from 3 lanes to 2.The only current diversion is that traffic exiting Great Wilson Street from Hunslet and wanting to join Victoria Road now has to go up Dewsbury Road and double back on the section of Dewsbury Road between Jack Lane East and Jack Lane West.