When I passed by an hour or so ago there was someone in a Network Rail hi-viz opposite the multi-storey, and the road was clear of stopped vehicles. As I write and look out of the window I can see cars (mostly PHVs) parked up again...
Lets move bus stops and taxi rank and short stay further from the trains. Thats going to get people of reduced mobility and those with luggage onto public transport.
When work is completed, neither is moving all that far. The taxi rank will be on Bishopgate Street, all of the bus services (I think) moved to the two new stops on Boar Lane. Not as easy as Leeds Station Interchange, I grant you, but still a shorter walk than at Sheffield and with just the one road to cross.
That's going to be a swine, particularly for anyone approaching from the South unaware of the changes. Motorists will find they can't get to the station by either of the previous routes, and once they're in the loop they can't easily take the natural route out via Water Lane and Globe Road, if they even know it, which there's a good chance they wouldn't, and would have to go round the gyratory outside the Asda head offices and come back on themselves again, if they knew to do it. Guessing there'll be no drop of point on Bishopgate which would have negated the impact.
Officially, it'll be a two-way cycle lane, a taxi rank and a single lane through. Once it opens, it'll be the usual free for all like it is now... and the City Loop as-was is gone, as part of it is /will be permanently closed, another part is becoming two-way with a bus gate that cuts you off from the rest of the loop.
If they are seriously suggesting all private hire traffic can only use Northern Street they have just enshrined Leeds gridlock for years to come as everything will back up to the inner ring road (it does anyway). There is a lot of private hire traffic to the station in terms of volume and I would guess proportionately way more than taxi. They pretended it didn’t exist on the last remodelling in terms of the actual drop off and now they are pretending it doesn’t need to get there either.
"Suggesting" is the key word. There are paper notices on lighting columns saying that the turn from Wellington Street into Thirsk Row is proscribed, but no big road signs. I have been complaining to Connecting Leeds about this, as it's dangerous for pedestrians; cars block the crossing point. I haven't got around to replying to their comprehensive answer as to why they haven't put signs up.
Let's face it, the range of bus services from New Station Street was always fairly limited, there are a lot of places that did not have routes with stops there and those that did were mainly west & north west facing routes. It is unfortunate that taxis have been moved, but frankly they were causing quite a lot of problems queuing up down the approach, tripping over buses & delivery vehicles, & making walking away from the station into the city centre quite dangerous given the rather narrow paths along New Station Street.
And that's before we consider the exit to City Square, with traffic junctions that felt like you were taking your life into your own hands. It was downright dangerous having part of the Inner Loop go straight past a busy station exit. Which is why the Loop is being redirected and traffic limited in that area.
The taxis will be making a return though, and will queue across the junction down Swinegate (if I remamber correctly), not down Neville Street.