Merrion Street Leeds: Picture shows £250k project to pedestrianise nightlife hotspot 'nearing completion'

Work on the lower end of the Leeds street, home to several bars and restaurants, began in the first week of January and includes 24-hour pedestrianisation. The work is part of a wider scheme to refresh key spaces across the city centre while making them safer for the public, according to Leeds City Council.

The council’s Leeds city centre team has now shared a picture of the work taking place, with the transformation nearly completed. Posting on Twitter on Tuesday, the team said: "Work to improve Merrion Street nearing completion. A busy day of resurfacing for the team, getting the street ready for summer. It’s now pedestrianised 24/7 too.”

The project includes complete resurfacing with new materials along with the installation of new security bollards. It’s the latest in a series of recent improvement schemes in some of the city’s key nightlife areas. In 2020, Greek Street was transformed with a new level surface of granite paving, new feature lighting, CCTV and a vehicle access control system.

And last year, New Briggate was turned into a new traffic-free space including new trees, benches, ‘street café’ seating and the introduction of a new street-food trading pitch. Other city centre streets including Briggate and Lands Lane have also seen the installation of remotely controlled, lowerable bollards as part of a city-wide, hi-tech system designed to stop unauthorised vehicles.

The area around Corn Exchange was also transformed in 2022. A multi-million pound project has seen Call Lane redesigned to open up more pedestrianised space, with trees and benches now providing a scenic gateway to the centre.