Back Sholebroke Avenue Potternewton: Claims Leeds street is 'accident waiting to happen' with 'blind corner'

Sheila Freeman has branded Back Sholebroke Avenue in Potternewton “dangerous” and has admitted worry for the safety of elderly people who use the road, including her dad. Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, she said: “There are a lot of elders going through. It's a really narrow street, cars shouldn't be able to go both ways. It's very, very dangerous. A lot of electric cars are coming and you can't hear them - all of a sudden, a car is upon you.

"The danger is that the where the blind corner is, it hits the car park of where my dad lives. There's hardly any pavement. You'll be walking and all of a sudden a car is upon you and you have to jump on to the grass. Twice, my sister and myself have come from Chapeltown Road and cut up Back Sholebroke Avenue to go and see my dad, she's a good driver who is always thinking about things like this but if she hadn't been, I would have been badly injured twice.

"A driver came down the back street at high speed, hurtling down, my sister had to put on the brakes. I'm surprised no one has been killed on that stretch of road. You can't see the car until it is upon you. I don't understand why cars are coming up and down.”

Back Sholebroke Avenue is located near Chapeltown Road, the home of businesses including Milan’s Bar & Restaurant, as well as community organisation Jamaica Society Leeds. Leeds City Council have confirmed plans to close the road to general vehicle traffic with a drop-down bollard, which they hope to have done before the end of the current financial year. The aim of Leeds City Council’s plans is to make the area more pedestrian-friendly whilst also ensuring Back Sholebroke Avenue is accessible enough for refuse collections.

Sheila said: “Connecting Leeds said they were going to block it off so cars could only go one way. That was said in the summer of last year and nothing's happened. These incidents have happened to me and my sister and other people have said they are nervous. It's an accident waiting to happen. I don't want to hear 'lessons have been learned' after someone has been killed. It's dangerous. You can't promise that you'll do things and just not do them.”

In an official statement shared with the Yorkshire Evening Post, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We have been working on an Active Travel Neighbourhood trial in Chapeltown for some time; some road closures have been implemented and we are planning to install a drop-down bollard on Back Sholebroke Avenue to close the road to general vehicle traffic to make the area more pedestrian-friendly while at the same time maintaining access for refuse collections. We hope to carry out these works by the end of this financial year.”