I was in Leeds on Wednesday evening to meet Stephanie Hirst one of our ambassadors who will feature on the cover of December edition of Yorkshire Businesswoman. We met in the fourth floor brasserie of Harvey Nichols before I headed downstairs for their beauty social. It was lovely to catch up with Stephanie and the beauty social was very busy and a great success for Harvey Nichols.
What wasn't so great was the time spent trying to get into Leeds in the first place. Roadworks have dominated for months now and closing off city square, which I understand will be permanent can only be described as a disaster!
Entering the city from South Leeds as I do, I have the option of two routes. I can leave the motorway for the city centre, travel along Water Lane and Globe Road but it is almost impossible to turn right into Whitehall Road. Traffic lights are needed there. That leads me to the second option, take the Holbeck turning from the M621 and travel down to Whitehall Road but that route is jammed all the way down to the train station, goodness knows how many trains have been missed recently! I queued for an hour to the lights at the bottom then turning the corner towards Wellington Street was once again blocked with the traffic travelling along Wellington Street, all queueing into King Street and East parade due to the road works there.
Circumstances do not let me use the Park and Ride which the council seem to be pushing as I have lots of baggage, heavy boxes and more, making it impossible to carry onto a bus then onto my destination.
So what is the solution? My view would be to reopen city square until the correct infrastructure is put into place. We need a tram system that runs from the centre to the suburbs, costly yes, but not as costly as businesses moving away from the city. I for one won't be spending my usual Christmas shopping day in Leeds as parking is limited and expensive, I will be heading to Trafford Centre or Meadowhall.
Does anyone else have an answer to these traffic problems? Please Leeds City Council, sort out the problem!
