High winds force another closure of Bridgewater Place

The junction at Bridgewater Place will be closed to all vehicles for four hours

The junction next to the tallest building in Leeds will be closed to all vehicles for four hours tonight due to high winds expected in the city.

Bridgewater Place junction will be closed to all vehicles from 11pm tonight until 3am tomorrow and to high-sided vehicles until 6am tomorrow.

Concerns over safety at the site have repeatedly forced city council bosses to shut streets at Bridgewater Place.

The area around the base of the 112 metre-high building south of the city centre can be gripped by the wind tunnel effect during stormy weather.

Pedestrian Edward Slaney, from Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, was crushed to death by a truck that was blown off its wheels close to the building in 2011.

The YEP reported in September that the start date for a scheme designed to ease the dangerous ‘wind tunnel’ effect remained unclear – even though work was at one stage due to begin in August.

Site owner CPPI Bridgewater Place Limited Partnership announced earlier this year that construction of a series of large-scale barriers and screens at the landmark building was scheduled to get under way in late summer.