Plan ahead for weekend 22 – 25 July partial highway closure to Armley Gyratory

Leeds City Council are urging people to plan ahead for next weekend’s partial northbound closure of the Armley Gyratory.

From 8pm Friday 22 July until 5:30am Monday 25 July, Canal Street (from Gloucester Terrace) inbound towards the city centre and along Wellington Road will be fully closed to vehicles. Full local diversion routes will be in place during this time.

This is to enable deep drainage highways enabling works as part of phase one Armley Gyratory construction. Monday 25 July the road will fully re-open with continued traffic management measures in place, which will allow the main improvements to be carried out safely.

The city remains open for visitors and people are very welcome to visit Leeds.  If you normally use the Armley Gyratory, please follow the advice to avoid the closure.

Leeds City Council’s Connecting Leeds team are working hard to deliver these improvements as quickly as possible and apologise for some significant disruption to journeys over the coming months.

To prepare for this partial Armley Gyratory closure and subsequent works, Leeds visitors, workers and residents are being urged to plan ahead (search Plan Ahead Leeds or visit www.leeds.gov.uk/planahead) before travelling and to sign up for regular email updates or follow Connecting Leeds on social media.

Travel advice

Ahead of the partial weekend 22 – 25 July closure:

• Plan ahead and travel early to allow plenty of time for journeys.
• Advanced warning signs on approaches informing the public of expected closures, times, and durations.

During the weekend closure:

Use public transport or park and ride sites with almost 4,000 spaces, is strongly recommended, as an alternative to driving into the centre.

• Elland Road for Park & Ride trips in from the southwest and west of Leeds.
• Stourton ideal for Park & Ride trips in the southeast and of Leeds.  
• Temple Green ideal for Park & Ride trips in from the north and east of Leeds.   

For shorter trips, leave the car at home and try walking or cycling instead. And for those who have no other option but to drive, a highways signed diversion is in place for motorists.

To avoid being caught up in the congestion, it’s important that people plan ahead and familiarise themselves with the recommended diversion routes. For specific destinations plan ahead, and for journeys from the motorway network or across the city, the following is advised:

• For access / egress from the motorway network to city centre and immediate area, you should use the M621 J3 and J4 and avoid using J2.
• For journeys to and from north of the city centre (e.g.,Headingley & Meanwood) onto the motorway network and beyond, it is recommended following permanent signage to the motorway network via the A65 or A61. For access to the city centre it is recommended using the A65 or A61 and city centre loop to the east of the city centre, avoiding directions to Canal Street (A647) where possible.
• For journeys from the west of the city (e.g.,Horsforth / Rawdon / Farsley Pudsey and beyond) it is recommended for journeys to the city centre should use the A65 routes as per the signed diversion plan.

Leeds City Councillor Helen Hayden, executive member for infrastructure and climate, said:

“Following the full closure in April, works have progressed to making improvements to Armley Gyratory. We’re working hard and as fast as we can with our contractors to make these changes and I would like to thank everyone in advance for their patience. We have done lots of work to try and minimise the disruption these works will create, but no matter what ever the amount of planning there will be some inevitable congestion. This partial weekend closure along Canal Street towards the city centre will make it safe for both the operatives working on the gyratory and the travelling public.

“The city remains open for visitors and people are very welcome to visit Leeds.  if you normally use the Armley Gyratory, please follow the advice to avoid the partial closure. During the ongoing works, if you can, we’d encourage you to access the city centre using public transport or park and ride sites at Elland Road, Stourton and Temple Green.

“Please make sure you plan ahead for any journeys in this area and if you do need to drive, familiarise yourself with the planned diversion routes. Regardless of how you travel, be sure to include some extra time in case of congestion. We have put together Armley Gyratory scheme details via www.leeds.gov.uk/planahead and again, thank you for your patience as we continue to transform travel in your city.”

Background information

This project is part of Connecting Leeds work on several major highways’ schemes, which are all part of transforming travel in the city and across the district.

It will also see works around City Square, Leeds train station and along routes linking to the city centre. This will be the first phase to create a world-class public space and arrival gateway to the city centre for train, bus users, pedestrians, and cyclists, and will eventually see City Square closed to through traffic in readiness for the Year of Culture in 2023.

These are all part of over £100 million of transformative highways works to overturn historic barriers and issues developed from the ‘Leeds Motorway City’ of the 1970’s. This created substantial ‘through traffic’ across the city centre, which has contributed to environmental issues and disconnected neighbourhoods – which can make it more difficult for people to travel on foot or cycling between different areas. The council’s approach to re-route traffic away from the city centre on to the more appropriate Inner Ring Road and the M621 orbital route following the closure of City Square, will enable public transport, walking, cycling and public realm plans to be realised in the city.

Over the past three years Leeds City Council has made major progress in the delivery of people-first infrastructure and public spaces across the city centre. There has been around £200million invested in improving Leeds City Centre, including the Leeds Public Transport Improvement Programme (LPTIP) Connecting Leeds works delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, with major investments enabling support of the 3.5-hectare green City Park, and the delivery of major Our Spaces schemes.

The works have been delivered at the same time as one another, at an unprecedented pace to meet the deadlines of government funding. Our transport conversation findings in 2016 made it clear the public wished for improvements to be made as quickly as possible.

Last year the majority of respondents also support the council’s Connecting Leeds transport strategy and ambition to be a city where you don’t need a car, promoting a range of solutions intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions towards the council’s climate emergency 2030 target. This means creating better experiences that make it easier for walking and cycling, along with seeing public transport more attractive to use. This approach is considered crucial after Covid to the city’s recovery in achieving the ambitions of economic recovery, inclusive growth and addressing the climate emergency.