A new £100m ring road in east Leeds would provide “critical” infrastructure support for a hoped-for housing boom in the area.
Leeds City Council is set to undertake a major study to examine the viability of a new East Leeds Orbital Road (ELOR).
It would form part of plans for the long-mooted East Leeds Extension (ELE) which could see up to 7,000 new homes built.
The new orbital road would stretch from the Outer Ring Road at Red Hall, round the east side of Leeds, to Thorpe Park, joining a new Manston Lane link road, where it would connect with existing highways.
The idea is to provide the roads support necessary to accommodate the scale of the development.
The council’s decision-making executive board yesterday rubber-stamped approval for £150,000 funding for an initial feasibility study.
A report presented to the panel said the ELOR would “effectively become a new 4.3 mile route to provide the capacity to support all allocated and approved development in the ELE and to relieve congestion on the existing network”.
“The East Leeds Extension is critical to the delivery of Leeds’s housing growth needs over the coming years,” the report added.
“It has potential to deliver a significant number of new homes and associated facilities.
“However, this is subject to the provision of critical infrastructure in the form of the East Leeds Orbital Road and appropriate social and community infrastructure such as schools, health and green spaces.
“The road and related development must be delivered in a sustainable and co-ordinated manner.”
The report said a “broad estimate” cost of £100m had been drawn up for the construction of the road, but added this was subject to the feasibility study.
It stressed the ELOR currently has “no defined route or design” and that talks with landowners and developers would bring “clarity” on this.
The initial East Leeds Extension (ELE) proposals were drawn up as part of a wider development plan in 2006.
It identified a major 560-acre area to the east of the city which would eventually incorporate housing, employment and green space uses.
The new orbital road would include new public transport connections on the route, including park and ride.
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