A Major
Large schemes are underway to redevelop and create better connectivity within Leeds. The projects involve improvements to road, rail, bus, cycle, and pedestrianised routes. This plan aims to help reduce congestion and improve air quality and accessibility within the city. The ‘Connecting Leeds’ plan, will transform the transport network and connectivity throughout Leeds and the wider area. Therefore, helping to bring people, places, jobs, academies and leisure closer for people within the city.
Plans are under construction to improve public transport in Leeds, making it a car-free city. The plans will include upgrades to the rail services, bus services, and cycle lanes. This is a step in the right direction to enable Leeds to achieve the Leeds City Region commitment to become a net zero carbon city region by 2038.
Leeds offers direct transport links to London, Manchester, Birmingham, and other major UK cities. Consequently, making it one of the UK’s best-connected cities. Therefore, professionals required to travel for business or work regularly can benefit from the strong transport connections in Leeds. The influx of commuters and working professionals will naturally increase the demand for housing.
Connecting
One of the major roads running through Leeds is the M62. A 107-mile-long west–east motorway in Northern England, connecting many major cities across England, including Liverpool, Hull, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield. 7 miles of the route is shared with the M60 motorway that orbits Manchester. Leeds also has easy access to the A1 motorway, M1 motorway and M62 motorway. Easy access to numerous motorways significantly reduces travel time to different destinations across Leeds and wider regions, making Leeds the perfect location for people who need to travel often.
Additionally, Leeds has an inner ring road that largely carries traffic through the city, whereas the ‘City Centre Loop’ distributes local traffic around the city centre to help avoid congestion. Inside the Inner Ring Road, the city centre loop was created to manage traffic in the city centre to provide an efficient traffic distributor around the city. It was also designed to create alternative routes to areas of Leeds to allow easier travel during busy times.
Improvements are being made to one of Leeds’ busiest roundabouts, Armley Gyratory. To manage capacity and divert traffic travelling through Leeds out of City Square. Changes to Armley Gyratory will help reduce congestion and make the use of the roundabout more efficient. Construction on this is due to be completed in summer 2024.
Enhancing
A brand-new cycle route in Leeds has been created running between north Leeds and the city centre. The infrastructure is part of a £6.3 million project to create more than 7km of cycling and walking routes across Leeds. This project aims to encourage more people to travel by bike or on foot, which will also help to achieve the goal of becoming a net zero-carbon region.
Creating new cycle routes and filling gaps in the existing routes will offer improved connectivity to, and around, the city centre. Creating extra connections will help cyclists travel around Leeds more safely and efficiently with more routes being complete for cyclists to stick to. This future-proof project is part of the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) programme; a major new programme of investment that aims to transform and add new infrastructure. In turn, this will help create a more accessible and pedestrianised region.
An Extensive
Leeds has a 26-stand bus station right in the centre and over 6,000 busses depart from here a week. Services from Leeds Bus Station travel to areas including Huddersfield, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Kirkstall, Otley and Armley. Furthermore, direct bus services are available from the Bus Station to Leeds Bradford Airport and Leeds Train Station, making travel easily accessible.
There are over 2,300 bus stops in Leeds with hundreds of services covering the whole of the city. The ‘Core Bus Network’ project was designed to enhance services, by colour coding busses and bus stops to identify routes buses cover. This project was completed with a new city-wide map at most stops and online. As a result, this makes it easier for commuters, visitors and tourists, to pre-plan travel and find the necessary transport.
Leeds also has a huge Park & Ride (P&R) system, providing easier and cheaper travel to Leeds city centre. Buses from P&R sites run every 10-15 minutes, to fit the schedule of users. The sites are currently at Elland Road, Temple Green and Stourton. There are plans to expand and add new P&R sites in the South, West and North of Leeds.
The idea of the scheme is to drive to the nearest Park and Ride site and hop on the bus to Leeds. This creates easier travel for people outside the city centre. It also reduces congestion going into Leeds by encouraging people to use public transport to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.
Commute Easily by
Leeds railway station attracts over 34 million passengers yearly, making it the busiest in Northern England. The station has 18 platforms, making it the largest in England outside London. It is also the second largest in the UK, rebuilt from 12 platforms in 2001 for £265 million.
HS2 originally planned to travel to Leeds. However, since that plan did not go ahead – further options are now being explored to add to Leeds to provide faster transport that can handle a larger capacity. As part of this, land around the city that was previously safeguarded to accommodate the construction of HS2 will remain safeguarded, to use for future transport plans.
Upgrades and work have been underway since 2022, including the work on the £46.1 million Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme. This project aims to make the train station better connected, more people-friendly and suitable for a larger breadth of people. Part of the scheme is to pedestrianise New Station Street, including the section which meets Boar Lane. Additional outdoor seating and rest areas, and attractive landscaping will be added.
Plans to relocate the existing taxi rank are also in progress, moving the rank and upgrading it to be a large and well-lit shelter. Construction of a high-quality cycle hub at the station is also included, offering electric charging points and storage for all types of cycles.
Upgrading
Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) is located about 7 miles out of Leeds city centre, and about 9 miles from Bradford city centre. LBA is the local airport to many cities including Leeds, Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region including York, Wakefield and Harrogate. LBA published a regeneration plan in 2017, stating they will upgrade developments at the airport through 2030.
Planning permission was given to renovate and expand the terminal to create additional departure gate access, extended seating areas, improved baggage reclaim facilities and enlarged immigration and customs facilities. In February 2021, Leeds City Council approved a planning application for a new terminal at LBA. This is to keep the airport expanding with the rising demand from customers. Over 3.5 million passengers were travelling from LBA in 2023, so these plans are to accommodate the demand and popularity of the airport.
In October 2023, the airport announced the ‘LBA: REGEN’ scheme, committing over £100 million to regenerate the airport. Improving accessibility, expanding retail and dining facilities and adding a more organised arrival experience, are all ideas involved in the plan. Also, these improvements will allow the airport to meet its net-zero 2030 goal. Construction on this scheme began in autumn 2023 and is expected to be completed by late 2025 / early 2026.
Increased pedestrianised and cycle routes, coupled with all the job prospects available in Leeds, will attract more renters to the city. This influx is due to people wanting to be close to their workplace. As a result, rental demand will increase, which is fantastic news for landlords.
Improved road connections will ease commuting to other cities for residents of Leeds. Residents who drive are more likely to move somewhere with better road networks and efficient routes to other cities. This will boost market activity as more people are drawn to the city to live and work.
Properties near airports and train stations will receive higher demand for short-term lets, as those travelling will often stay in a local place. Properties near these amenities will have a high demand for long-term tenancies from working professionals as they will have access to regular travel, on their doorstep.
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