Leeds Bradford: Airport Road, Rail & Access Issues

[a300boy]

Yes it was ok !

 

[Bigman]

I bobbed in yesterday on my way home and was surprised just how many people were there. Quite a lot of folk having a good moan about Option C and particularly the fact that it is OK in theory to remodel junctions....but all the extra traffic will just make it worse anyway!!! I liked the video run through of the Option A road from Rawdon. This has to be the best option.

 

[leedslad]

Annoyed they refuse to run a city centre event. By only consulting in the area surrounding the airport they are excluding those that will travel TO the airport.

Surely the idea of this is to benefit those travelling TO the airport. You'd have to be pretty committed to travel to NW Leeds in order to participate in a consultation...

And the argument you can participate online doesn't hold since otherwise why hold events at all...

 

[The Pole]

Well I shall be calling in when this visits Horsforth. The council need to sort out horsforth & rodley roundabouts first to cope with the current traffic, Horsforth is ridiculous now, you cant get in or out of the place unless its between 9pm and 7am. A 10 min journey from Yeadon took 50 mins last night and if I stay in Farsley my commute to work is nearly an hour! When I used to catch the bus to menston in the 80s to school the roundabout was a 'proper' roundabout, it was busy, but at least it flowed, rather than been held at red, with the ringroad seeming to get priority! The A65 gets 4 cars through if you are lucky and thats if folk set of quickly rather than messing about!!

 

[Aviador]

I agree. Whether they opt for A B or C significant improvements to the Ring Road and the Horsforth roundabout are a must if it is to have the desired effect. In otherwords, there's no point in saving 5 minutes of your journey as far as Rawdon goes to then have to wait 15 minutes queuing at a roundabout.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

I called in at Yeadon on Monday afternoon, but nothing further on show then already available on line, whilst many staff were available they were not prepared to discuss air pollution or the clean air act or any details.
You were handed a survey to complete, but I did it on line at
yourinvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/airport (available for anyone to complete)
I answered forums4airports.com .at Q28 on how I found out about this survey, hope others spread the word about this site.

 

[lbaspotter]

! Lots of 'official' folk on hand to answer questions but I didn't notice any Airport Management there.. .

I guess that LBA management won't be attending as this is a council issue mainly (and West Yorkshire Combined Authority). LBA themselves don't really have any input at this stage. They have already done their bit by getting the council and WYCA to fully support the requirement for improved transport and road links to the airport. It is up to both of them to take it forward now.

Somebody in the airports management must have heard you, I see the airport now has full details listed on its new website of the on going consultation that's been undertaken by West Yorkshire Combined Authority as regards to the Airport link road options and the parkway station.

https://www.leedsbradfordairport.co...u98ILDMM-xATaWaZCPUK9zOkjSlKeqWgBMGJKT2MIQwoM

 

[Bigman]

Anyone who tried to get either way between Horsforth and Rawdon last night seriously needs to see the advantage of Option A. Absolute shocker on the roads last night!!

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I went to the presentation at Yeadon Town Hall on Monday (and Im going to Otley tonight). I was disappointed that no one from Network Rail or Northern Rail was present. The parkway is being handled as a separate development which is not dependant upon the A,B,C roads.
I dont think it will work as a parkway, mainly because they will have to charge for car parking and it will have to be at least as much as parking in the on airport car parks, otherwise everyone will park at the parkway and get the free bus up to the airport. Why pay when Weeton and Menston are free (not sure about Horsforth)?

I see great potential for passengers arriving and departing by rail however this will only work if the trains start and finish somewhere other than York and Leeds (as currently). Starting in Scarborough, Middlesborough, Hull and running through the Parkway to Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield etc as the current Manchester airport services do would be the ideal. The only problem I can see is that the track between Knaresborough and York might need upgrading to double track where it is currently only single.


Alan

 

[Airambiant]

Anyone who tried to get either way between Horsforth and Rawdon last night seriously needs to see the advantage of Option A. Absolute shocker on the roads last night!!

Unfortunately Option A would not have helped commuters last night. Option A would bring more traffic to the A65 and additional traffic lights to pass!

 

[LBA4EVER]

The horsforth roundabout needs to be a lawnswood size roundabout with filter lanes on each side for left turning traffic that avoid the roundabout completely, also moving the entire roundabout more towards where I believe is a strawberry field would create more space so that every approach to it is dual lanes, so 2 lanes for straight ahead,1 for right and the filter lanes for left, and ideally 2 lanes upon leaving the roundabout that last at least 300metres so that traffic can build up speed and merge into 1 lane with no jams.

 

[White Heather]

The council have already said that, independently to the Option A B and C (airport link), they already have plans for a major upgrade to the A65 from the proposed link road junction, down to the A6120 Leeds Ring Road and from there down towards Rodley. No details of course, but they did say that this work was from a different budget to the link road and one was not dependent upon the other. The way I read it, the changes around Horsforth should be already in place by the time any link road is built. That stretch of road and all roads either side of the roundabout at Horsforth are at breaking point, and the Council know it. There is no way it can remain as it is for another 10 years.

 

[Aviador]

I'm not entirely sure what they are called but a motorway style roundabout with free flowing traffic on the ring road would assist A65 traffic as it wouldn't need to mix. I understand this sound drastic but it's going to take something drastic to solve the problem.

 

[LBA4EVER]

You mean a free flowing road with a roundabout above it? this happened in Alicante on what were 3 very busy roundabouts and now the traffic flows extremely well with no jams at all since the tunnels/over,under passes were constructed.

 

[LBA4EVER]

The ring road around Leeds should be a 3 or 4 lane motorway with the amount of traffic on it. The problem with leeds is all the motorways tend to be to the south and east of the city.

 

[Bigman]

Better still, just extend the M65 from Colne, past Keighley and North of Otley to join the A1M North of Wetherby. That would sort the M62 and A65 out once and for all.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

I went to the presentation at Yeadon Town Hall on Monday (and Im going to Otley tonight). I was disappointed that no one from Network Rail or Northern Rail was present. The parkway is being handled as a separate development which is not dependant upon the A,B,C roads.
I dont think it will work as a parkway, mainly because they will have to charge for car parking and it will have to be at least as much as parking in the on airport car parks, otherwise everyone will park at the parkway and get the free bus up to the airport. Why pay when Weeton and Menston are free (not sure about Horsforth)?

I see great potential for passengers arriving and departing by rail however this will only work if the trains start and finish somewhere other than York and Leeds (as currently). Starting in Scarborough, Middlesborough, Hull and running through the Parkway to Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield etc as the current Manchester airport services do would be the ideal. The only problem I can see is that the track between Knaresborough and York might need upgrading to double track where it is currently only single.


Alan

Not sure why you would have to pay for parking, number plate recognition software is now very sophisticated that they can be programmed for short and long term stays.
Its vital this station is both a parkNRide and train station option and fully integrated with the airport, therefore, a surprise both rail and airport views were not on hand, nor were current pollution figures available on the Option C route or any figures on possible traffic increases from January next year when the Leeds Clean air zone comes in to force.
When I talked about the clean air zone and the clean air act to officials at Yeadon, you would have thought I was talking a foreign language.

 

[LBA4EVER]

Reg bigmans point, the original plans back when the m606 to Bradford was constructed was to have it all the way to keighley and beyond to the m65 but they ran out of money which is why it stops at Rooley lane,Bradford.

 

[White Heather]

Reg bigmans point, the original plans back when the m606 to Bradford was constructed was to have it all the way to keighley and beyond to the m65 but they ran out of money which is why it stops at Rooley lane,Bradford.

A recurring theme in these parts is the motorways that didn't happen (and more recently transport schemes that also didn't happen) whilst they did go ahead in other parts of the country not too far away. Way back, the Pudsey to Dishforth Motorway would have linked the M62 with A1 and the planned route went right past LBA, more or less where Option A would run, along where Scotland Lane is now, just to the East of the airport. But of course, it didn't happen. The current Harrogate by pass, from the A61 as far as the A1 follows the route of the Motorway that was planned and then canned. I cannot help wondering where LBA might be now, had this part of the county seen the investment it needed, sooner, and with some vision for the future of the airport. We never seem to learn either - even the tram system that the Government binned in favour of a similar scheme in Edinburgh, totally ignored the airport - unlike Edinburgh, whose tram system only links the city centre and airport.

 

[rmac]

Edinburgh trams: Originally planned to be beyond the city centre, but due to costs and delays it does now terminate in the city centre.
However plans are afoot to again extend beyond the centre, and the trams are proving to be very popular. Additionally a new rail station
near the airport has been built alongside the trams, giving access from Fife and beyond to the airport directly. Bye the way a Park and Ride is also located next to the airport, although not for airport parking.