December hope for city square to be free of traffic

MULTI-MILLION POUND works to double the size of Leeds City Square and close the area to traffic could be finished as early as December, a report by civil servants has stated.

A report on the Leeds City Centre Package, which involves roads around City Square being open only to buses, taxis and bicycles, is set to go before a meeting of regional decision-makers next week.

It added that, while the economic case for the work was “very poor”, it would ensure buses would “no longer have to compete” with cars for space on the city centre’s roads.

The works are set to cost around £15.3m in total, and work is expected to start this April.

It will involve converting East Parade and King Street into a twoway street with bus stops, as well as introducing signals at Globe Road and Westgate.

The document stated: “Buses will also no longer have to compete for road space with motorists. An ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) survey of 2013 revealed that about 30 per cent of traffic that uses City Square does not originate in or is destined for the city centre. So, a notable proportion of traffic simply use this route as an alternative to the Inner Ring Road for northbound journeys across the city.”

According to plans released last year, early blueprints for a newly-designed City Square included woodland and water features, with the entire area between the Queens Hotel and Mill Hill Chapel closed to general traffic.

There would be a “conceptual reincarnation” of the ancient Forest of Leodis on which the city is built, as well as “informal play” for children, with platforms and rock steps to climb and jump off, as well as a water feature.