Yorkshire and Humberside regional factsheet

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People in England want efficient, reliable and safe systems of transport. Of course, local transport problems need local solutions.

The Government is keeping the promise it made in the 10-Year Plan for Transport by giving local authorities £8.4 billion over the next five years to be spent locally on projects identified at a local level.

As part of the settlement, authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber have been given £163 million for 2001/02, and are expected receive at least £671 million for the five-year period. In addition the region will benefit from a share of resources for future years that have not yet been definitively allocated. The settlement covers:

  • major public transport and road schemes costing over £5 million;
  • integrated transport schemes costing under £5m; and
  • local road maintenance and bridge strengthening schemes.

Major schemes have earmarked funding, however, local authorities decide which of the other transport schemes identified they fund.

Major schemes in Yorkshire & Humberside

The following have been accepted.

South Yorkshire (Doncaster) A638 Great North Road Quality Bus Corridor - £12.1m
Enhanced public transport facilities, linking large areas with high unemployment to job opportunities in the town centre and south of Doncaster.

West Yorkshire -South Bradford Integrated Transport Improvements - £19.5m
A package of integrated measures providing environmental improvements, enhanced public transport facilities, improved access to new employment sites, Park & Ride and improvements to the strategic highway network in the south of Bradford.

Leeds Inner Ring Road Stage 7 - £35.6m
Developed in conjunction with Inner Ring Road stage 6, the City Centre Loop, the Public Transport Box and pedestrianisation measures, this scheme routes traffic away from the central area.

East Leeds Link Road - £20.7m
A strategic link between Leeds Inner Ring Road, Aire Valley Employment Area and M1 with a package of measures including traffic calming, road widening, new access roads, segregated bus lanes and a priority lane for HOVs and HGVs. This will help deliver large scale regeneration in the area.

The following schemes have been accepted and will receive Government funds subject to:

  • the completion of the Statutory approval process, or
  • further work on the case; and
  • funding being secured from a third party

South Yorkshire (Sheffield) - Inner Relief Road stages 2 & 3 - £30m
The scheme, linking the A61 Penistone Road and The Wicker, will take traffic away from the city centre. Existing roads will be turned over to public transport and vulnerable road users and improving public transport routes to and from the city centre.

South Yorkshire (Rotherham) - A631 West Bawtry Road Improvement - £17.5m
The last stage in improvements to the A631 strategic route, bypassing the southern side of Rotherham town centre.

West Yorkshire (Wakefield) - Glasshoughton Coalfields Link Road - £6.8m
This scheme brings better access to the former Coalfield regeneration areas of Castleford and Normanton. It encourages more use of the Wakefield Europort facility and includes a package of traffic management and public transport improvements.

West Yorkshire (Bradford) - City Centre Integrated Transport Scheme -£17.5m
Fundamental to the regeneration of the city centre, the scheme improves safety, integration and the environment by removing through traffic.

West Yorkshire (Wakefield) - Hemsworth/A1 link Road - £11.3m
Part of regional initiatives to regenerate former coalfields areas, the scheme improves strategic access to and from deprived areas of South East Wakefield and North East Barnsley. It will also reduce the impact of HGVs on small communities.

NB. Figures relate to gross scheme costs

In addition, there are a number of schemes for which we do not yet have sufficient information to form a view. The Government is keen to work with the authorities concerned to assist them in completing the work necessary for each scheme to be evaluated by Government against New Approach to Appraisal (NATA) criteria. The schemes in this category are:

Leeds

Supertram

Leeds

A65 Quality Bus Initiative

South Yorkshire PTE

Barnsley Interchange

Barnsley

Barnsley Busway

Hull

Hull Light Rapid Transit

Sheffield

Station Master Plan

Barnsley

Cudworth Bypass

The five-year settlement provides funding for authorities in the region to introduce:

  • interchange schemes, including:
  • plans for the re-development of Scunthorpe Bus Station, and the provision of a new bus/ rail/ taxi interchange in Hull, Doncaster and Barnsley;
  • major re-development plans for Leeds (ongoing) and Sheffield rail stations (planned);
  • the development of mini-interchanges throughout the region is planned, to permit better interchange of local services in smaller or more remote areas.

In addition, up to 15 new, or extended, park and ride schemes are being considered. For example, authorities are considering proposals for sites at:

  • Sheffield;
  • Hull, Bridlington and Beverley, East Riding;
  • Great Coates, North East Lincolnshire; and
  • three sites at York and one in South Yorkshire.

Up to 1,220 road safety schemes, including:

  • 20mph zones in Hull;
  • traffic calming measures in Halifax Town Centre forming part of the Town Centre Strategy; and
  • increasing the number of school crossing patrols and introducing School Travel Plans.

Up to 490 km of cycle routes and cycle lanes, and other measures available to encourage cycling, including:

  • reviews of cycle routes in many parts of the region;
  • better cycle parking provision throughout the region, including Hull and North Yorkshire;
  • better signed routes for cyclists throughout the region such as in North East Lincolnshire, linking residential communities with commercial and employment centres, schools and colleges; and
  • improved integration with public transport, for example, increasing numbers of cycle lockers at rail/bus stations throughout West Yorkshire, and a greater provision of cycle racks on buses in the North Yorkshire Dales.

Up to 58 km of footway improvements and pedestrianisation, and other measures to encourage walking including:

  • a new pedestrian route linking rural communities and schools, for example, the proposed "Greenway" linking Haxey with Belton in the Isle of Axholme, North Lincolnshire;
  • better personal security for pedestrians, for example, more CCTV in most city/town centres and transport interchanges in West and South Yorkshire;
  • integration with public transport or the introduction of partnerships for action, for example, the provision of mini interchange facilities in the North Yorkshire Dales, and the North Lincolnshire Rural Bus Partnership. This will improve the quality of rural bus stop facilities and improved access for the disabled; and
  • improved mobility arrangements for people with disabilities, for example, the introduction of new low floor buses with improved wheelchair access throughout the region. Other measures include dropped kerbs, tactile paving and re-designed bus stops, similar to those proposed as part of the Rural Bus Partnerships in North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire, and which are already a major feature in West and South Yorkshire.

Additionally it will provide significant improvements to local transport through:

  • accessibility schemes
  • the provision of innovative public/ community transport services in North Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire;
  • the development of the rural 'connexions' service in York linking the rural villages to the park and ride sites;
  • improvements to bus services in South Yorkshire to provide access for socially excluded communities in the more remote rural areas.

Public Transport Schemes

Improvements to bus transport including 370 km of busways, Bus Corridors, bus lanes and bus priority measures including:

  • new bus Partnerships West Yorkshire and Leeds First have proposed a Quality Bus Corridor on the A65 Kirkstall Road Leeds (West Yorkshire will provide physical improvements and First Bus new buses). A similar scheme is proposed in South Yorkshire in Doncaster on the A638. York council and First York have into entered a city-wide contract to provide a city-wide Quality Partnership which embraces park and ride and all bus services;
  • more bus priority schemes throughout the region's urban areas providing improved reliability and journey times for public transport;
  • better lighting and security arrangements for bus passengers and better bus information systems in South Yorkshire and improved security lighting and passenger information at all bus and rail stations in West Yorkshire;
  • over 130 new bus shelters in York; and
  • better rural bus services are planned in several areas in South Yorkshire, in particular, the rural areas to the south, east and north west of Doncaster. Additional proposals cover North West and South West Sheffield and the Dearn Valley, north of Rotherham. Improved services are planned for the Isle of Axholm in North Lincolnshire.

Local roads

Various local road improvements throughout the region including:

  • Sheffield Inner Ring Road, South Bradford Integrated Transport Scheme, Dog Kennel Lane, Beverly and the A614 Wellhambridge Bridge East in Riding;
  • real time information signs on the Outer and Inner Ring Roads;
  • the conversion of two major roundabouts on the A159 Ashby Road in Scunthorpe to signal control in order to improve public transport facilities; and
  • a new north bridge in Doncaster, allowing the existing bridge to be refurbished and converted for public transport use.

Other important local schemes include:

  • major refurbishment is underway at Leeds station;
  • a redevelopment proposal is planned for Sheffield station including new provisions for taxis and buses;
  • a redevelopment is planned for Doncaster station linking it with the re-siting of the two central bus stations;
  • new stations are planned for York; and
  • improved arrangements for using taxi and private hire vehicles, for example by the development of integration with other forms of public transport by through ticketing in York.

Maintenance schemes

The five year LTP settlement provides funding for authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside to address the maintenance backlog on the regions 29,000 km of local roads and to start restoring the 523 bridges that need strengthening.