For a long time, the Station Hotel Junction has needed improvements. A scheme put forward in October 2014 was rejected by local residents and businesses, so Leeds City Council has now come up with another scheme – to make Victoria Road one way, and create a pedestrian island in the A65 outside the Station Hotel.
Residents and businesses in the Victoria/Cavendish Roads area of Guiseley have been advised that in the near future signage and notices will be erected to show that Victoria Road from its junction with Cavendish Road towards the Otley Road/A65 will be made into a one way system with access only from Otley Road.
Victoria Road will then have more car parking bays created making space for up to 23 vehicles, rather than the current 12.
In addition, by not having cars turning left at the traffic lights along Otley Road towards White Cross, a pedestrian island/refuge can be put outside the Station PH. The Council claims that “by the removal of Victoria Road from the traffic light sequence at the A65 junction there will be sufficient time within the sequence to provide a full complement of pedestrian facilities”.
The downside of the proposals is that traffic approaching the Station junction from Park Road, will have to find an alternative route either to the gyratory, or down Back Lane. Alternatively, Bradford traffic may go to White Cross and turn back along Otley Road, going either along Back Lane or Ings Lane.
The proposals have been discussed with and have the approval of Guiseley & Rawdon Councillors. However, they have asked for a trial of the system to gauge effects before permanent adoption.
Traffic surveys on the surrounding streets will be conducted during and after the trial to determine where displaced traffic has moved to and to ensure that no adverse issues are encountered. The results of these surveys coupled with any correspondence from the public in Guiseley will be used to gauge whether or not the trial was successful.
The trial will begin just as soon as the work is completed.
Should anyone wish to comment, want more information or require a plan of these proposals they should contact: Highways and Transportation for the attention of Mr J Waters. 0113 395 0654, or email jonathan.waters@leeds.gov.uk
You can also leave comment here, or email aireboroughnp@gmail.com, and we will return an aggregate view from the Forum.
Aireborough Neighbourhood Development Forum 
Comment received from Helen Thornton
On Christmas Eve we residents of Cavendish Drive received a letter about the trial one way system starting early in the New Year on Victoria Road. It was not clear whether this letter represented a consultation with us or was simply telling us about this trial. It arrived in the holiday period when it is highly likely to be overlooked by impacted residents who are very busy or away. The proposals will have a major detrimental impact on many residents’ ability to reach areas of Guiseley without significant detours. The major impact will be on Park Road which all of us here in Cavendish Road, Drive, Carrington Terrace and associated side roads (probably also Renton Ave to get out to the A65) will now have to use to get to the Conservation Area/Oxford Road area of Guiseley. There are many families with children at the schools in this area and in winter especially drive to the schools. As you know Park Road past Morrisons is already very heavily congested at peak times and outside peak times too. (a small mitigation might be retiming the lights out of Park Road onto the gyratory to clear the queue up Park Rd, but this would obviously impact the A65. Residents in a large part of Guiseley under these proposals only have one way onto the A65, so this feels like discrimination, and to the detriment of overall traffic flow around Guiseley).
Victoria Road residents (maybe 8 households and 4 businesses) appear to have had a consultation opportunity why haven’t we? Although our parking is unaffected, our impact on traffic flow is perhaps more serious for the community at large. Now, we in these 3 streets will be seriously inconvenienced. There should be proper residents consultation before a permanent solution is implemented. Perhaps a public meeting would be useful?
In the meantime I have been speaking to some local residents – all of whom are against this scheme.
Overall it seems like a ‘sledge hammer to crack a nut’. Why cant Leeds simply introduce a ‘no left turn’ at the Victoria Road/Otley Road junction? In our experience this manoeuvre is the least used on the whole junction – has Leeds monitored how many cars infact do a left turn on this arm of the junction? A no left turn here would solve the issue of turning left onto a pedestrian crossing which we can understand is not safe. It would need some additional signage to warn drivers that there is no left turn ahead – but this would not be anymore signage than was needed for the no entry. Drivers on the Bradford Road approaching Guiseley should continue along to White Cross to go to Otley anyway. Drivers in the Cavendish Road area usually use Back Lane to get to Otley, so there are very few turning left at the end of Victoria Road. However many of us (especially parents) need to go through to the lights to go straight ahead into Oxford Road to schools, churches and shops. Having to go a very long way around past Morrisons (a well known bottleneck) through Guiseley gyratory and 2 sets of lights just to get to Oxford Road is going to impact more negatively than a ‘no left turn’. Or we will go through Renton Ave – currently a quiet road.
Other solutions to improve safety on Victoria Road would be speed humps (there is alot of support for this) and much better line markings – currently they are all very worn and drivers coming down Cavendish Road often fail to stop – why not make this an obligatory stop junction? Roadside parking around the junction with Cavendish Road needs much better signage, management and enforcement.
By my estimation there around 75 – 100 households impacted by making this part of Victoria Road one way and it will certainly put unacceptable pressure on Park Road, Renton Avenue and Back Lane. And this solution has been driven by the views of considerably fewer residents??
Many of us believe that there is nothing to be gained by making Victoria Road one-way except the one advantage of implementing a pedestrian crossing on the A65 (and double the amount of on street parking on Victoria Road which only really benefits a small number of folk living there ie. 8 households and a couple of businesses). We all want that crossing, however it does not seem like sufficient benefit for the amount of disruption for a significant number of Guiseley residents. Surely it is cheaper to have a ‘no left turn’? Rather than this piecemeal approach to solving problems with traffic and pedestrians in Guiseley we need a holistic approach – which looks at the gyratory and the A65, Morrisons exit and Park Road and 20mph zones – because they all have a knock on impact on each other. Once this ‘trial’ starts and you encounter gridlock – make sure you record your troubles and make sure jonathan.waters@leeds.gov.uk knows you have been through traffic hell in Guiseley!!
Guiseley is rapidly becoming one large car park serving the train station. The idea that the creation of more parking spaces on roads around the station is a positive when considering the proposed one way system is frankly unbelievable.
With regard to the proposals, any traffic manipulation that has as a result the effect of guiding more cars/lorries on to roads currently designated as 20 mph areas used by many school children is madness.
What on earth are our local councillors thinking when it appears they approve this trial.
I find the above comments very interesting and as a resident of Victoria Road, I find it extremely fascinating to hear others opinions (even if I don’t agree)!! I was disappointed when I found out today that the one way system had been withdrawn. Victoria Road is an accident waiting to happen. Only just before Christmas, a boy from Guiseley School was knocked over by a motorist and it is seriously a case of it is an accident waiting to happen and it only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed. I have lived in this area all my life and find it immensely frustrating to see consistent expansion of the area, but no infrastructure being improved with it. People move into the area because they want a better life/education for their children. I get that. Maybe then, in order to help the local community, encouraging their children to walk to school (despite the weather) would help? I am a mother and I am a childcare professional. Surely we should be teaching our children the importance of walking?! Driving children to school, which would only be a 10/15 minute walk, is quite frankly, lazy and is adding to the existing problem. Are the comments from above not just a contradiction? If you are complaining about the traffic problem, yet driving to school and other facilities within the town, are you not adding to the problem?! Surely walking the short distance would help?
I’m disappointed to see that the opinions of people living in Victoria Road aren’t important, I do hope that the comments above are not made by people who regularly speed up to the lights, complain when I pull out onto Victoria Road or try to cross it. Also sorry to hear my needs to park aren’t important either.
With regard to the Victoria Road problem, implementing a no left turn at the lights in Victoria Road, will surely only make motorists travelling from the Park Road end of Victoria Road, turn left onto Cavendish Road anyway? As someone who travels to Ilkley on a regular basis to visit family, if a no left turn was implemented, I would travel up Cavendish Road and then onto Back Lane to then join the A65.
I do wonder that above comments are purely a case of, yes changes do need to be implemented but not if it affects us in the Cavendish Area, which quite honestly is not in the interests of the community and is quite frankly selfish. Would they still agree if god forbid it was one of their children who was knocked over?
As a mother, I try and cross Victoria Road everyday to get to school/nursery (we walk by the way!!), and it is an absolute nightmare.
My suggestions, Victoria Road needs to be made into a 20mph zone with speed bumps to slow down motorists travelling too fast and a pedestrian crossing needs to be put in place for a safe place for all to cross. Perhaps even reversing the direction of the one way system instead. Alternatively, have all the lights red at the same time (previously discounted for adding to congestion)
I was also directly impacted by the trial, but I’d have at least given it a go.