Proposals to improve traffic flow through Harewood village were shared in a public consultation held by the Connecting Leeds team of Leeds City Council in February 2019 when 73% of respondents stated they were in favour of the proposals. The comments provided during the consultation have helped further developed the designs since that time. The process of finalising the design is in hand for implementation this year. Follow this link to see the latest scheme design. The key points to note are:
- Widened pavement and straight across pedestrian crossing outside Harewood CofE Primary School
- Traffic signal upgrade and new traffic detection systems at the main village crossroads
- This would include the latest technology for a new Above Ground Detection camera for Harewood Approach
- Existing features such as the manual override box and CCTV would be retained / upgraded
- New islands allowing for straight across pedestrian movements at the junction
- A change to separately signal the left turn into The Avenue from the north to the straight ahead/right turn movement
- Peak period parking restrictions on The Avenue
- New white lining within the junction to highlight right turn waiting areas
The combination of the signal upgrade and separately signalled left turn from the north means additional greentime can be given to the key north south and south north movements during peak periods. The traffic modelling undertaken estimates the queue length in the morning peak will reduce by approximately 50% saving all vehicles over two minutes. Pedestrians using the crossings will also see a reduction in wait and crossing times.
The new detection unit for Harewood Approach will be located on top of the signal pole, with no need for any works on Estate property. The detection unit will be able to count queuing vehicles back to the Arch. The upgraded signal technology will respond dynamically to queues on all approaches to reduce overall delays. The manual override unit will be retained for periods of very heavy movements in and out of the Harewood Estate.
It is planned to take advantage of the current reduced traffic levels and school summer holidays to undertake the works with a start date at the end of July for the works by Harewood CofE Primary School.
Updates on the proposals will be sent to the following local stakeholders:
- Harewood Estate
- Harewood CofE Primary School
- Gateways School
- Harewood Arms PH
- Approximately 40 properties along The Avenue in Harewood who may be affected by the parking restrictions (see attached plan for extent of this letter drop).
The Connecting Leeds Team would like to hear any comments you have on the proposals or construction and you can provide any comments or questions in writing to them or by email to connectingleeds@leeds.gov.uk
