£30m road upgrade scheme to improve travel to St James' Hospital
£30m road upgrade scheme to improve travel to city hospital.
Travel to one of Leeds’ main hospitals is set to be improved with a £30m road upgrade scheme.
Plans were drawn up for Burmantofts Street and Beckett Street, which link the city centre with St James’s University Hospital.
New bus lanes, cycle tracks and walking routes could be installed after Leeds City Council applied for funding from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The council said work on the project could be carried out between August this year and autumn 2027.
A council spokesperson said: “The scheme would deliver new bus lanes in both directions between the hospital and the city centre, improving bus journey times and reliability, particularly during peak periods, along with new cycle lanes.”
An earlier council report said it was hoped the project would reduce accidents on the road, where there had been 67 casualties, including 13 serious injuries and one fatality between 2017 and 2023.
Parts of the road would be widened and a new bus lane would operate 24 hours a day. Traffic restrictions would be introduced as part of the scheme.
The council spokesperson said the scheme would improve travel to Burmantofts, Lincoln Green, Richmond Hill and Harehills.
They said: “The new bus and cycle infrastructure would also link to previously-delivered improvements.
“Cyclists will be able to travel on completely segregated lanes between the hospital and the city centre
“Buses will benefit from existing priority on York Street to make quicker continuous journeys.”
“Subject to approval of the funding, we intend to start work in August 2026 with a targeted completion of autumn 2027.”
The council report said some £30.5m was set to be allocated as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement