Armley Gyratory Update

Armley Gyratory is a busy roundabout controlled by traffic lights to the west of Leeds city centre. It is a key junction on the A58 (M) Inner Ring Road and a major entry/exit point for traffic travelling through and into the city. Queuing traffic builds up quickly at busy times of the day, resulting in delays for motorists and bus users. This congestion contributes towards poor air quality and has a negative impact on local residents and businesses.

The current pedestrian and cycle facilities at the junction are substandard and inaccessible to some users. As a result, people from surrounding communities are unlikely to make journeys on foot or by bike into the city centre. When they do, some use a variety of informal routes around the junction.

Due to the current challenges at the junction, Connecting Leeds and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) have been working in partnership to develop proposals to improve Armley Gyratory.

The proposed improvements aim to:

• provide pedestrians and cyclists with more appealing and accessible routes around the gyratory;

• increase safety for all road users;

• improve the operation of the junction, allowing traffic to flow more freely, which will minimise traffic impacts on local roads

• improve the local environment through new landscaping; and

• facilitate improvements elsewhere in the city, including at City Square, by creating capacity for traffic displaced from those locations.

Our proposals for Armley Gyratory have changed since we consulted on them in autumn 2019. This page explains what the changes are and why they have been made. The updated design has since received planning approval in December 2021. Leeds City Council have appointed a construction partner to undertake works on the Armley Gyratory.

How will the work affect you?

• Planned highway works will begin on 10 January 2022.

• During the majority of the works the Armley Gyratory highway will remain open.

• Works in January and February will take place off the highway, limited to some night-time lane closures for vegetation clearance within Network Rail land.

• In March the main construction will start with a series of night-time and weekend closures to alter the existing lane markings.

• Throughout the works introduce a temporary 30mph speed limit.

• Further details on diversion routes/access arrangements will be available nearer the time.

• The highway phase one works are set to complete by winter 2022 and off highway works by summer 2023.

If you would like to receive updates on the latest news about the scheme, you can subscribe to alerts via Commonplace.

Connecting Leeds: Transforming Travel

Connecting Leeds is Leeds City Council’s ambition to improve travel for those that live, study and work in or visit Leeds, providing opportunities for seamless travel within a world-class city.

The Connecting Leeds transport strategy has been developed to transform transport networks throughout Leeds, setting out the council’s vision for a city where you don’t need a car, where everyone has an affordable zero carbon choice in how they travel. You can find out more about the strategy here.

Improvements to Armley Gyratory will help to achieve the Connecting Leeds vision by making better use of road space and improving pedestrian and cycle routes to promote sustainable transport options. It will also enable other transformational schemes over the next ten years, helping create better public spaces in the city centre. These schemes include the Leeds Integrated Station Masterplan, City Square, the Headrow, Infirmary Street, Meadow Lane and Southbank. Click here to find out more about these opportunities.

The £40.5 million scheme is funded by West Yorkshire- plus Transport Fund City Centre Package and was approved in January 2022.

Our design was updated following a review of forecasted growth and changes in journey patterns; a review of the impact of other schemes planned in the city centre and across the wider Leeds network; and as a result of changes in the funding available for the scheme.

As well as the proposed improvements to Armley Gyratory, the West Yorkshire-Plus Transport City Centre Package is funding other schemes within the centre of Leeds to facilitate city-wide transport improvements and, to ensure that the maximum number of improvement schemes can be brought forward, the Package’s allocations were reviewed. This has altered funding availability for some schemes including the Armley Gyratory improvement scheme.

Two rounds of public consultation, in 2018 and 2019, have helped us understand how people use the gyratory and the issues they face, helping develop the details of our design.

Our initial consultation showed that local people were particularly concerned about several key issues.

We then consulted on a proposed design for the gyratory, which aimed to address the concerns above. We collected feedback on how satisfied people were with some of the key design aspects.

Although our design has changed, we took feedback on board and aimed to retain and enhance some of the key features that were most supported in previous consultation, including new landscaping, new and improved traffic lights, and improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes and crossings. We also responded to feedback by including improvements to safety, increasing traffic flows and upgraded and enhanced connections to pedestrian and cycling links in the new design.

This means that the key benefits delivered by the new design still meet the scheme’s core aims but for less money.

As part of the planning application, a detailed summary of the responses received during consultation and how our design responds to them was included within a Statement of Community Involvement.

The main design changes that have been made since we last shared them are set out below.

You can download the plan by clicking here.

The key features of our design that respond to themes that arose from previous public consultation are set out below:

The proposed improvements will mean that:

1. The junction is safer and easier to travel across, boosting connectivity and accessibility.

2. We capitalise on opportunities to enhance biodiversity through planting and landscaping, as well as establishing green pedestrian links to neighbouring residential areas.

3. Active travel is encouraged through improved pedestrian and cycling routes.

4. Other improvements to Leeds city centre are enabled, helping to achieve the council’s vision of a more connected city with more appealing and liveable public spaces.

In addition, the proposed drainage system will look to address the issues of flooding at A58 Wellington Road North under the railway bridge.

We have created a landscape design that increases opportunities for biodiversity, establishes green pedestrian and cyclist links and makes use of trees and shrubs that are tolerant to and trap air pollution. The proposed design also includes landscaped perennial meadows, which are adaptable to road environments such as the gyratory and will provide additional biodiversity.

Example of perennial meadows on other road schemes. Source: Pictorial Meadows

As far as possible, we will make use of materials that are sustainable, durable and easy to maintain.

You can download the landscape plan by clicking here.

Although our updated design retains more trees than previous versions, some trees will unfortunately still need to be removed. We will strive to minimise this and will relocate trees rather than remove them as far as is feasible. Where a tree has to be removed we will replace every one removed tree with three new trees that will be planted either at the gyratory or in the surrounding local community, dependent on the space available and the most suitable location.

Construction is planned to start in early 2022 with some early enabling works (e.g. service diversions, vegetation removal and clearance). Works to the on highway construction will take place in spring 2022. Any disruption anticipated as a result of construction will be communicated to local residents and road users in advance of any work.

To find out more information relating to the scheme, read our FAQs or contact connectingleeds@leeds.gov.uk. You can also join the conversation on social media by using #ConnectingLeeds.