Three Thoughts on the A660 Leeds Cycle Infrastructure
I wanted to see the developing cycle infrastructure on the A660 in Leeds first hand, so I took my bike and rode from the Outer Ring Road to the Town Hall and back.
The A660 is called Otley Road at first, then Headingley Lane, then Woodhouse Lane.
Two Cycle Infrastructure Schemes and a Feasibility Study
There are two cycle infrastructure schemes on the A660, both funded by Active Travel England.
The first was between the Outer Ring Road and Shaw Lane. It involved widening the cycle lanes and installing light segregation (orcas and wands) where feasible.
The second is a £10 million scheme between Shaw Lane and St Mark’s Road (opposite the University of Leeds).
The work in the second scheme includes junction redesigns and cycle tracks along the whole length. Only the first short section is under way so far, between Spring Road and Buckingham Road.
A future cycle connection from Leeds University to the city centre is planned, but the Connecting Leeds team is in the very early stages of feasibility work only.
Here are three thoughts about the cycle facilities on the A660 so far.
1) A Mixture of Type and Quality of Cycle Facility
From the Ring Road to the Town Hall, there’s a mixture of types of infrastructure, including:
- no cycle infrastructure
- paint-only cycle lanes
- sharing the bus lane
- light segregation (orcas and wands) and
- kerb-protected cycle track
It’s important to acknowledge that this is a busy road that goes through different areas including sections where it serves as a high street. It’s not easy to add cycle infrastructure – it is a fairly complicated project. Well done to Leeds for taking up the challenge and getting on with it.
The most recent tranche of funding from Active Travel England was only awarded in April 2023, and yet construction work using that money has already started.
Compare that with the record of North Yorkshire Council who received active travel funding in 2020 but still haven’t begun any construction work at all. Shakin’ Stevens will win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry before North Yorkshire takes on a route like this.
There will be more big improvements on the A660 between now and when the project is finished in Summer 2025.
Taking all that into account and giving Leeds great credit for the work they are doing, it is nevertheless fair to say that at the moment, because of the variety of infrastructure used, the cycling experience on the A660 is inconsistent. Some sections feel a lot safer than others.
2) Sharing Bus Lanes
Quite a lot of the cycling is in bus lanes.
I found them fine, but I guess they would not meet the 8 to 80 year old test. Not many parents would want their children sharing space with such large vehicles, and there are occasions when you have to pull out into the general traffic lane to overtake a bus at a stop.
It would be interesting to know what training or guidance the bus drivers have been given. The very few interactions I had with buses were all safe – the drivers gave me plenty of room.
3) Good Work at Hyde Park Corner
One of the most impressive pieces of work along the route is at Hyde Park Corner (main photo at the top of the article).
The designers have had the good idea of simplifying the junction and making it Ahead Only for motor vehicles. This means that cyclists should not have to worry about drivers left hooking them.
Similarly when cycling away from town, you don’t have to dodge right-turning vehicles – provided drivers don’t make illegal manoeuvres.
More Thoughts on the A660 Leeds Cycle Infrastructure follows on from this post.