Armley Gyratory and Stanningley Bypass: Everything you need to know as key Leeds routes shut for a month

From 8pm Monday, July 24 until 5.30am Thursday, August 24, there will be daily night-time partial closures around the Armley Gyratory for surfacing works. While from 8am Thursday, July 27 until 6am Monday, August 21, road works will take place along the Eastbound A647 Stanningley Bypass. Traffic management will be set up 24/7 between those dates.

The partial closures are planned to coincide with reduced levels of traffic during the school summer holidays as part of Leeds City Council’s Connecting Leeds project. Here’s everything you need to know.

How long will both routes be shut?

The Armley Gyratory will be closed between 8pm – 5.30am each evening from July 24 – August 24. The road will re-open during the daytime with 30mph speed limits and other traffic management measures in place to allow improvements to be carried out safely.

Roadworks will take place along the Eastbound A647 Stanningley Bypass 8am – 6am from July 27 – August 21. To complete this work efficiently and for the safety of all road users, it will require a partial closure of the bypass and some of the access/slip roads, with local diversions.

What work is taking place?

The Armley Gyratory works are complex and the work areas have been segmented into seven parts, as work progresses clockwise around the gyratory, with a total of 19 phases of activity.

This includes planing the existing carriageway, ironworks, laying binder, tarmac surfacing and associated white lining. Because of the scale of the road surfacing, with different work areas and days, it will need different diversions and local access plans.

Planned as part of Leeds City Council’s highway annual maintenance programme, the Stanningley Bypass works will complement the successful Westbound joint and resurfacing programme, delivered during 2022. A contraflow system (between Dawson’s Corner roundabout and Swinnow Bridge) will be in operation.

To minimise potential future disruptions, the council are also looking to allow the maintenance of other services (like street lighting, for example) where it is safe to do so, and within the traffic management set up.

What have Leeds council said ahead of the closure?

Coun Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for sustainable development and infrastructure, said: “Armley Gyratory is a busy strategic route used by thousands of people each day and therefore to partially close it requires careful planning. By carrying out the repair works during the school summer holidays and most importantly at night, we can hopefully limit the disruption with expected lower traffic levels.

“We’re working hard and as fast as we can with our contractors to make these improvements and again thank everyone for their patience. We have done lots of work to try and minimise the disruption these works will create, but no matter what ever the amount of planning there may be some delays.”

Motorists are urged to plan ahead before travelling. There will also be highways and diversion signage, with targeted communications in affected areas.