Thousands of motorists use the Leeds Inner Ring Road everyday to get across the city. Yet few will be aware of the untold story of how the project was hindered by delays, controversy and everything in between. It was devised in the 1950s, started in 1964 and yet only completed in the 2000s. Today we use photos from the YEP archive to bring that story to life. READ MORE: York Road in 29 photos - A snapshot of life on this busy east Leeds route through the years
1. Leeds inner ring road
Harold MacMillan was the Prime Minister and Elvis Presley dominated the hit parade when traffic engineers started to develop plans to build a motorway in the city in the 1950s. | YPN Photo: YPN
2. Leeds inner ring road
Leeds traffic levels predicted to increase when city engineer Charles Geoffrey Thirlwall came up with a radical idea to keep Leeds on the move in the 1950s by building an inner ring road to take through traffic around the city centre. | YPN Photo: YPN
3. Leeds inner ring road
The bulldozers and diggers of contractors Lehane, Mackenzie and Shand Ltd moved on site to start work in October 1964. | YPN Photo: YPN
4. Leeds inner ring road
October 1964 and he project followed the path of many a big development - plans drawn up, public consultation, objections and public inquiry - before approval was given. | Peter Tuffrey Photo: Peter Tuffrey
5. Leeds inner ring road
Contractors used 80 lorries at a time to shift 360,000 cubic yards of earth, much of which was used to improve the King George V playing fields on Stonegate Road. | YPN Photo: YPN
6. Leeds inner ring road
The ambitious scheme was not without controversy. In 1959 it was reported that 340 homes would have to be demolished to make way for the road and industrial workshops, cafes, a shop and six pubs also had to bite the dust. | YPN Photo: YPN