Leeds Inner Ring Road Stage 7 Leeds Inner Ring Road Stage 7, United Kingdom

The Leeds Inner Ring Road Stage 7 project (LIRR7) will provide the final link to connect Stage 6 of the scheme (completed in 2000) to the M621 and the wider national motorway network.

Construction of this £50m scheme began in May 2006 with completion scheduled for December 2008.

The design and construction of the project was begun by Leeds City Council via a two-phase process involving an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) contract that was awarded to Alfred McAlpine in March 2005.

Phase one, which commenced in April 2005, involved detailed design by a joint Leeds City Council/Mouchel Parkman team brought together as part of a wider partnership agreement.

Phase two, the construction works, commenced in May 2006. Leeds City Council, in partnership with Mouchel Parkman, is the superviser for the construction phase and will retain ownership of the design through to project completion in 2008.

THE ROUTE

The Leeds Inner Ring Road is part motorway and part A road. Most of it is designated the A58(M) – a motorway section of the A58 road – while a short section is the A64(M), part of the A64 road.The motorway section in total is 2.5m (3.8km) long and is subject to a 40mph speed limit throughout. The remainder of the route is the A61.

The route for Stage 7 will run from South Accommodation Road in Hunslet and will connect with Junction 4 of the M621. It will comprise the construction of dual two and three-lane carriageways, through a previously industrial area, with slip road links to the M621.

The principal features of the scheme will be a 600m long viaduct over the existing local road network and three bridges over the Leeds-to-Castleford railway line. Construction of the scheme has required the permanent road to be built on existing roads which necessitates long-term traffic diversions for up to 30 months until completion of the project.

WHAT WILL BE ACHIEVED?

The scheme will assist in removing remaining through traffic from the Leeds central area, and in conjunction with the M621 will provide a continuous circulatory route around the city centre.

The scheme is expected to improve travel times across the city and relieve congestion in the Hunslet and Holbeck areas as well as the city centre. The scheme will also improve access to the Aire Valley Leeds regeneration area when the East Leeds Link Road is completed, this is also planned for 2008.

It will also allow the full benefits to be derived from city centre traffic innovations of the past 15 years, including the city centre loop, Public Transport Box and improvements to pedestrian areas and public space refurbishment. The main contractor on this scheme is Pierse Contracting.

CURRENT WORKS

The positioning of steel beams on the new Hunslet Viaduct remained on schedule (January 2007) and can now be seen from South Accommodation Road and Hunslet Road. These beams were 120ft long and 6ft deep and were lifted into position by large cranes. The beams are made in weathering steel which does not need to be painted and over time the colour of these beams will soften.

The use of weathering steel will enable Leeds City Council to make considerable savings on maintenance costs over the life of the viaduct by not having to repaint the structure.

All of the foundations for the viaduct piers are built and the two approach ramps will soon be rising above ground level.

The concrete deck can is now ready for construction and work is progressing well on the three railway bridges and walls between the railway and the M621.

Earthworks have now started on the west side of the M621 at Burton Row for the new footbridge that will span the motorway.

Two large sewer diversions, together with three major gas main diversions, have been completed along the route in order to avoid the foundations of the bridge structures to be constructed along the A61 on South Accommodation Road, Hunslet Distributor and Moor Road.

Stage 7 will include a new footbridge over the M621 and the Inner Ring Road, which the council says will have a distinctive design, with the deck suspended from a 42m high pylon. The bridge will be built between Church Street-Hillidge Road and Burton Row.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The project is technically complex and involves substantial engineering works. One 500m section will be carried above ground level on a major new viaduct, spanning Hunslet Road from the West of the River and on to the Hunslet Distributor Road.

The 600m Hunslet Viaduct features reinforced concrete underground columns, on which the concrete bases and impressive 'wine glass' supporting columns to the viaduct bridge deck have been constructed.

The filling to the old mine workings beneath the structures has been done and the three bridges spanning the Leeds–Derby railway alongside the M621 motorway and Moor Road are now progressing as planned.