National Highways has put forward three options to improve the M1/M62 Lofthouse interchange near Leeds for public consultation.
The government-owned company has said all options will improve safety, create more capacity and boost connectivity to support economic growth while minimising the impact on the environment.
Although, the consultation brochure discloses that the different options will have different impacts on a range of environmental issues, including ‘landscape and visual’, ‘priority woodland habitat’, road drainage and the water environment’ and carbon.
The brochure discloses that ‘Option A has the lowest increase in carbon emissions, compared to Options B and C’, but does not state the various levels of increase.
National Highways said that approximately 75,000 vehicles move through the junction every day, leading to significant queues at peak times and disrupting the journeys of thousands of road users.
It added that travel demand is set to grow over the next 30 years, with 107,000 vehicles expected to use the interchange every day by 2044.
Roads minister Baroness Vere said: ‘Works to improve this busy junction will help ensure that this crucial interchange is fit for the future, creating safer, faster and better journeys for people in West Yorkshire as we continue to build back better from the pandemic.'
National Highways project manager Andrew Potter said: ‘Feedback from this public consultation will help us understand how the proposed options impact road users and the local community. People will be helping to shape the scheme and maximise the benefits as we progress the design.’
Option A - new roundabout
This option will replace the existing roundabout, which National Highways said was built in the 1960s and requires regular maintenance to keep it safe, with a new one with additional lanes built to the latest standards.
National Highways said that if traffic volumes continue to increase in the future, the existing traffic problems at the interchange may return within five years with this option.
Option B - new free flow link
A new free-flow link would connect the M1 northbound to the M62 eastbound. It would pass through the centre of the interchange to reduce the additional land required and ‘help to minimise the environmental impact’.
National Highways said the existing roundabout would still be retained and would require regular maintenance work to keep it fit for purpose. It added that if traffic volumes continue to increase in the future, the existing traffic problems may return within 15 years.
Option C – Full free-flow interchange
New free-flow links would be provided between the M62 and M1 to remove the need for vehicles to stop at the interchange. The free-flow links would pass through the middle of the junction to reduce the additional land required and ‘help to minimise the environmental impact’.
The existing roundabout would no longer be required and would be demolished.
The project is one of 32 announced in National Highways’ 2020-25 Delivery Plan as being considered for further development for the 2020-25 roads investment period.
National Highways said £347m has been allocated to the development of these projects, which have been identified through a programme of strategic studies, route strategies, specific areas of research and work with stakeholders. Not all schemes in the pipeline will progress to construction.
The consultation runs to 10 December 2021, with feedback helping National Highways develop its planning application for a Development Consent Order (DCO), should the scheme be developed further.
Details and short videos of all three options can be found by clicking on the consultation button on the project webpage at highwaysengland.co.uk/m1-m62-lofthouse.
