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Leeds City Council have given the green
light to bus priority proposals aimed at reducing
congestion and pollution along one of the busiest commuter routes into the
city centre.
At a meeting of executive board yesterday, members agreed to spend over £1
million on
improvements to the A65 corridor between Leeds Outer Ring Road and Kirkstall
Lane,
enabling the delivery of a high quality and reliable bus service.
Councillor Andrew Carter, executive board member responsible for
development,,
said;
This is great news for thousands of people who travel by bus on this busy
route. It
should mean quicker and more reliable journeys into the city centre and will
hopefully
encourage more people to travel by bus. It will also help us tackle
congestion and
pollution.
The scheme will see an inbound bus lane (towards city centre), provision of
cycle lanes, new
road marking and central refuges, the short outbound dual carriageway to be
reduced to a
single lane and all bus stops on route provided with raised kerbs.
The work is designed to reduce the present delays to public transport on
this section of the
A65.
It is anticipated that work on the route will begin during Spring next year.
This Abbey Road Scheme between Leeds Outer Ring Road and Kirkstall Lane can
be
funded from the Local Transport Plan Integrated Transport block allocation
and is one
element of the overall Quality Bus Initiative for the A65 route into Leeds.
A major scheme bid
covering the Commercial Road/Kirkstall Road section of the route has been
submitted for
Government approval. It is currently being reviewed against regional
priorities and the
Regional Transport Board will be expected to give a view to Ministers on
whether it should
receive support. A final decision on whether it receives government support
is expected in
March 2006.
Councillor Andrew Carter, executive board member responsible for
development,,
added;
We will continue to lobby the Government and local Members of Parliament on
this
matter. |
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