Plan ahead for a busy weekend in Leeds

The city is hosting several major events this weekend including the England women’s football international friendly at Elland Road, the cricket test match at Headingley, and concerts at the first direct arena and at Temple Newsam.

There are also a number of major highways improvement schemes in delivery, along with the ongoing industrial action affecting rail and some bus services.

As a result, the council is encouraging people to consider planning in advance and allowing longer time for journeys to avoid being caught in any congestion.

Leeds City Councillor Helen Hayden, Executive Member for infrastructure and climate, said: “It’s fantastic to see our city so busy again with so many exciting events this weekend, but this means we are expecting our roads to be much busier than usual too.

“It’s important that people plan their journeys in advance to avoid being affected by any congestion, so you can arrive at your event on time and enjoy your visit to Leeds.”

Park and Ride, and alternative routes around the city

Alternative ways to travel into and around the city include:

• Using Park and Ride schemes such as our successful sites at Stourton, Elland Road and Temple Green.
• Customers can plan a journey by public transport using Moovit. Further information for rail passengers is available on the National Rail website.
• Cycling or walking into the city.
• Motorists who have no option other than to drive should consider travelling outside of peak times where possible, or use alternative routes which do not pass through the city centre, such as using Junction 4 of the M621 instead of Junction 3, and also Junction 2, which is likely to be affected by ongoing works on the Armley Gyratory.

A map of alternative routes has been produced along with directions to a number of key destinations, which all avoid using Junction 3 of the M621 leading on to the route past the railway station where major highways works are currently underway.

The dedicated webpage www.leeds.gov.uk/planahead contains details of ongoing works around the city centre. Visitors can also sign up to receive regular email updates.

Cricket fans – don’t get caught out!

Yorkshire County Cricket Club is providing a park and stride at Becketts Park (15 minutes’ walk to the Kirkstall Lane entrance) and an additional parking facility at Cinder and Monument Moor (20-minute walk to the St Michael Lane entrance) that also has bus routes available to Headingley.

These services are available to buy, by arriving directly at these sites and cannot be booked in advance. Further information is being sent to all ticket purchasers in the pre-match information document.