Leeds Inner Ring Road

UK motorway routebox
motorway= A64(M)
length-mi= 0.5
length-km= 0.6
direction= East-West
start= Quarry Hill
destinations= Leeds
end= Brunswick
work-started= 1969
opening-date= 1969
completion-date=complete route
junctions= UK motorway routebox
motorway= A58(M)
length-mi= 2
length-km= 3.2
direction= East-West
start= Brunswick
destinations= Leeds
end= Armley
work-started= 1964
opening-date= 1964
completion-date=1975
junctions=

The Leeds Inner Ring Road is a part motorway and part A road in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Most of it is designated the A58(M), a motorway section of the A58 road, a short section is the A64(M), part of the A64 road, and the shortest motorway in the UK. The motorway section is in total is 2.5 miles (3.8km) long and is subject to a 40 mph speed limit throughout. The remainder of the route is the A61, M621 and A643.

Route

The motorway section of the ring road forms a semicircle around the north of the city centre. This corridor is set to become a skyscraper alley with some of the city's tallest buildings proposed or under construction along it.

Although designated as a motorway, the road has no hard shoulders, and has many exits modern planning would consider unworthy of a motorway, including a right-side (fast lane) slip road exit (taking the eastbound A58 off the motorway). Most of it runs in a concrete-walled cutting, though it goes into tunnel around Leeds General Infirmary, a major hospital. The motorway cuts through inner-city neighbourhoods such as Woodhouse, Sheepscar and Buslingthorpe, and forms an important link in the road network, allowing traffic from the A65, A660, A58, A61 and A64 to bypass the city centre.

History

Leeds suffered severe traffic congestion as it was on the main route betweens Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford and Hull. [ [http://www.leedsconstructionlink.co.uk/buildingleedsa642.htm Leeds Construction Link - Building of the Inner Ring Road - Background] ] In 1955 it was decided to build a dual carriageway to remove through traffic. [http://www.leedsconstructionlink.co.uk/buildingleedsa643.htm Leeds Construction Link - Building of the Inner Ring Road - Solution] ] It was during the final stages before construction began that the road was redesignated as a motorway in 1963, without any changes to the design. Construction began with the demolition of 365 homes and 174 other structures. [ [http://www.leedsconstructionlink.co.uk/buildingleedsa644.htm Leeds Construction Link - Building of the Inner Ring Road - Clearance] ]

The motorway was built around the city centre in three stages in the 1960s and 1970s. [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/a58ma64mstat.htm The Motorway Archive - Leeds Inner Ring Road Dates Page] ] Stage 1 opened was the route from the exit for the town hall to the A58 exit, stage 2 was the A64(M) section and stage 3 linked the road to the A58. [ [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/lirr/00.shtml CBRD - Histories - Leeds Inner Ring Road - Map] ] Stages 4 to 6 featured upgrades to the A61 constructed in the 1990s to non-motorway standards featuring traffic light controlled intersections and non-grade separated junctions. When the motorway finally opened, Leeds used the motto "Motorway city of the 70s".

Future Plans

The final stage of the inner ring road (stage 7) began construction in 2006. Featuring a large elevated viaduct, it will link the route with the M621 at junction 4 and will be of a similar standard to sections 4-6. [ [http://www.leeds.gov.uk/living/travel,%20transport%20and%20streets/Transport%20policy/Leeds%20Inner%20Ring%20Road%20Stage%207/page.aspx?style= Leeds City Council Scheme Page] ] Once built this will complete the inner ring road, albeit it will not form an actual ring and will not be the complete urban motorway originally envisioned in the 1960s.

Junctions

ee also

*Leeds Outer Ring Road

References

External links

*CBRD
** [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/lirr/ Histories - Leeds Inner Ring Road ]
** [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/a58m/ Motorway Database - A58(M)]
** [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/a64m/ Motorway Database - A64(M)]
** [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/media/video/irr.shtml Videos - A58(M)]
*Pathetic Motorways
** [http://pathetic.org.uk/current/a58m/ A58(M)]
** [http://pathetic.org.uk/current/a64m/ A64(M)]
* [http://www.leedsconstructionlink.co.uk/buildingleedsa641.htm Leeds Construction Link - The building of the inner ring road in the 1960s]
* [http://www.iht.org/motorway/a58ma64mleeds.htm The Motorway Archive - Leeds Inner Ring Road]