Elland Road park and ride expansion work underway

2 August 2019

Construction work to create an extra 550 spaces at the popular Elland Road park and ride in Leeds is underway.

When completed next year, the extension scheme will take the total number of spaces at Elland Road to 1,350.

Elland Road park and ride site celebrated its fifth anniversary in June. In that time it has helped remove almost 1.2 million cars from Leeds City centre roads. The expansion will remove approximately 277,000 annual car journeys from the city centre and 5,000 tonnes of carbon.

Unprecedented

The works form part of Connecting Leeds’ improvements – aiming to invest an unprecedented £270million in the transport network of the city. Connecting Leeds, the long-term transport strategy for Leeds, aims to improve all aspects of transport and travel in the city and connecting to the wider Leeds City Region.

With both Elland Road and Temple Green expected to meet capacity this year, Connecting Leeds programme is set to create an additional 2,000 park and ride spaces across the city by March 2021.

Find out more about Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride services.

Following @iparkandride on Twitter.

Hugely successful

Councillor Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “Our Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride sites in Leeds have been hugely successful in reducing congestion and the pollution it causes. Passengers have used the services to make over 2½ million journeys and almost 1.2 million car journeys have been removed from city centre roads.

“Now, with this work to create extra capacity at Elland Road underway and construction of the new park and ride at Stourton due to start shortly, we are literally building on that success.”

Already a success

Leeds City Council's executive board member for climate change, transport and sustainable development, Councillor Lisa Mulherin said: “Park and ride is a key part of our Connecting Leeds transport strategy for the city. It helps us achieve our aims of reducing congestion and improving local air quality, by improving public transport. I’m pleased to see Elland Road park and ride is already a success and a more popular alternative to travelling by car into the city centre. These extra 550 park and ride spaces developed through Connecting Leeds, will have the capacity to take 277,000 car journeys off our streets each year with the removal of approximately 5,000 tonnes of carbon.

“With a Climate Emergency now is the time more than ever for commuters to think about their journeys. Providing better and more reliable bus services will give more people the confidence and choice to plan travel, without using their car. It’s also a cheaper way to travel for families, with children travelling free from park and ride with a paying adult.”

At the forefront

Martin Hirst, First West Yorkshire, Commercial Director, said: “We are delighted to once again be at the forefront for the expansion of this project. We are thrilled to work in close partnership with the local authority in the popular Leeds Park & Ride scheme. We are committed to working in partnership to deliver the best bus services for the region. By working together, local authorities and bus operators can make a real impact on congestion and air quality, provide better services for our customers, support local economies more effectively and ultimately help to increase passenger numbers.”

Andy Crampton, Bam Nuttall LPTIP Project Director, said:

“In collaboration with Leeds City Council, and national and local suppliers and partners, we’re delivering sustainable infrastructure, improving transport connectivity and capacity, to support regional growth. We’re creating opportunities, to help unlock the potential of people in the local community, developing skills and local opportunities in construction and infrastructure support and transport services.”