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Four 'park & ride' facilities
will be built; Stourton (3,000 cars), Headingley (500), Tingley
(500) and Grimes Dyke (500).
The system will have a fleet of 40 'state-of-the-art' electric
trams, powered from overhead cables. Each tram will carry 270
people and will run on both a segregated track and the public
highway.
The hope is that the Supertram will carry more than 22 million
passengers a year of which a quarter would be former car users.
Funding for the scheme will be
split three ways; 75% comes from the Government, the public sector
and private consortia delivering the rest.
The traditional approach has been taken in planning this scheme:
- in 1988, when the scheme was first suggested, the cost was
£38 million, we were nearly there in 1996 for £133
million and here we are today with a cost of £500 million.
There will be three major routes:
South route: P&R at Tingley, Middleton, Belle Isle (Belle
Isle Central P&R), Hunslet Road, Royal Armouries, over the
river, Boar Lane, City Square and the city loop.
East Route: P&R at Grimes Dyke, Whinmoor District Centre,
York Road to North Parkway and the new Seacroft Shopping Centre,
Easterly Road down to the Fforde Green pub on Roundhay Road,
along Harehills Road to Beckett Street and St James' Hospital,
across York Road passing the Social Security building (the Kremlin),
on to the bus station on York Street, Corn Exchange and then
into the city loop.
North Route: Bodington fields P&R, (Bodington Hall flats
- student accommodation) through Lawnswood & Headingley -
lots more students, Arndale Shopping Centre at Headingley, Hyde
Park Corner, on to the two universities, next the Merrion Centre.
Leeds General Infirmary, Civic Hall, Town Hall, and on to Infirmary
Street bus point - City Square and the city loop. |
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So that's the plan. Now step
forward all the gainsayers, Doubting Thomases, sceptics, non-believers
and those with other agendas.
Sheffield, a city that invested in a similar system in the early
1990s, was turned into a massive building site when they began
construction. Roads were closed; dual carriageways became single
carriageways, businesses lost out &c, &c. Supertram planners
are studying Sheffield to learn from that forerunners problems
and thus avoid those problems. Being planners they will, of course,
introduce different problems.
The first major traffic survey
for more than a decade is being undertaken in Leeds. City Highway
officials will question road users of all types. The findings
will be used to help plan future transport developments. Road
traffic in Leeds has increased by 43% since 1979.
As the Highway Authority is doing its survey now one wonders
if they are aware of a scheme to introduce the most major traffic
changes in Leeds in its entire history.
As part of its contribution to
this scheme the local authority needs to find tens of millions
of pounds. Many people are a little concerned as to where the
cash is coming from. Charging motorists for using key routes
into the city centre has been peddled in some quarters, presumably
from non-motorists who don't mind sponging off the vast amounts
of cash already extorted from the much..(Soapbox kicked away).
A Council spokesman stated that the funding of the Supertram
did not rely in any way or at any time on resources generated
by road user charging. '..at any time..', does that mean in the
future?
Local businesses and council taxpayers have similarly been assured
that they will not be used to bankroll the enterprise.
The money from the Council, possibly as much as £60-£70
million, will apparently be found from the West Yorkshire Passenger
Transport Authority, contributions from developers and council-owned
land being made available for free.
No matter where the funding comes from and whichever groups are
involved in the scheme one thing is certain - it's going to be
a fun time all the way to 2007.
Tickets Please!! |
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