Leeds Bradford CS1?

[Blue Hills]

Hardly a mega adventure but I may be using it soon - can I ask what it is like?
Any problems? Barriers?
Pretty fast going? (which is what I am after)
Am assuming that it is all effectively surfaced in one way and another.

 

[mjr]

There's a long thread following it from birth pangs to troubled toddler is at https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/bradford-cycle-lane.180322/

There are some fast stretches but there are also lots of problems, so don't go expecting Dutch or Danish or even Flemish or recent French quality. I don't think they've installed barriers, but some of the kerbs and junctions are total fark ups which were a bit dodgy under the 2008 standards and should not be built at all under 2020 standards (which it predates). I think it's all hard surface but I've only seen small bits of it.

 

[NorthernDave]

It's a mess (as is CS2 on the other side of the city centre), and at a cost of nearly £1 million per km too...

See the thread linked above for the full sorry tale - any decent sections are massively outweighed by the poor bits.

Edit to add, for most of it you'll be faster on the adjacent road.

 

[DCLane]

It's a very variable surface and layout depending upon who the contractor was: some parts are excellent, others are simply dangerous.

 

[Blue Hills]

It's a very variable surface and layout depending upon who the contractor was: some parts are excellent, others are simply dangerous.

all some form of hard surface though?

some bits dangerous how? Driveways coming into it/conflicts with traffic in sideroads etc? Am quite good at reading such daftness, at least in daylight, and at such points would hop onto the road if I could.

 

[Blue Hills]

It's a mess (as is CS2 on the other side of the city centre), and at a cost of nearly £1 million per km too...

See the thread linked above for the full sorry tale - any decent sections are massively outweighed by the poor bits.

Edit to add, for most of it you'll be faster on the adjacent road.

Not necessarily a problem for me if I can switch between the so-called superhighway and an adjacent road as need arises - I quite often do this and am pretty comfortable with traffic.

The adjacent road isn't too horrendous/dangerous I hope?

Also fair to assume that this is quite a good route/path between Leeds and Bradford whether on the CS1 or adjacent road? On this ride I will want to make good progress as I will be riding against approaching dark and will have other more challenging stuff ahead.

 

[DCLane]

all some form of hard surface though?

some bits dangerous how? Driveways coming into it/conflicts with traffic in sideroads etc? Am quite good at reading such daftness, at least in daylight, and at such points would hop onto the road if I could.

It's all hard surface, yes. Some parts cross the side-roads in different ways, with some just ending without any indication of what's next. I join the CS1 at the Odeon, so miss out the centre of Bradford.

There are decent bits; the run through Armley is OK. But there's also others which needed better planning, such as coming into Stanningley.

My challenge was always "what's next" when you get to the end of Armley Road. Here you need to turn left and over the Wellington Road bridge, then right through the crossing onto Wellington Street if you're going into the city centre.

Which bit of Leeds are you trying to get to?

 

[Blue Hills]

It's all hard surface, yes. Some parts cross the side-roads in different ways, with some just ending without any indication of what's next. I join the CS1 at the Odeon, so miss out the centre of Bradford.

There are decent bits; the run through Armley is OK. But there's also others which needed better planning, such as coming into Stanningley.

My challenge was always "what's next" when you get to the end of Armley Road. Here you need to turn left and over the Wellington Road bridge, then right through the crossing onto Wellington Street if you're going into the city centre.

Which bit of Leeds are you trying to get to?

Am LEAVING Leeds station, heading west towards Pendle - going Leeds Bradford initially seemed to be the best route for a fastish ride - I know there are nicer routes but will leave those for when I have more time.
Thanks for the advice

 

[DCLane]

Am LEAVING Leeds station, heading west towards Pendle - going Leeds Bradford initially seemed to be the best route for a fastish ride - I know there are nicer routes but will leave those for when I have more time.
Thanks for the advice

Aha! Then it's Wellington Street, left after the road junction onto Wellington Road then right onto Armley Road after the bridge, which is easy to miss.

Outbound it's OK although disappears through Stanningley, losing the path up to the roundabout by the ring road. After that you're onto Bradford's version of junctions, which are different, with a cross-over onto the other side of the road and on-CS1 parking.

 

[classic33]

Out of curiosity, what time are you looking at leaving Leeds.

 

[Blue Hills]

Out of curiosity, what time are you looking at leaving Leeds.

Just before noon if all goes to plan.
Even though I'm not fast am confident of getting out of Leeds before nightfall but want to make good time because of what I will be facing later.

 

[NorthernDave]

If you can, check the route on Google maps - it will give you an idea of the hugely varying standard, including the places it simply dissapears.

If you're at Leeds railway station there are frequent direct trains to both Bradford stations 😉

 

[Blue Hills]

If you can, check the route on Google maps - it will give you an idea of the hugely varying standard, including the places it simply dissapears.

Tend not to google streetview (I assume what you mean) before rides unless I think there's a chance I'll stray onto a motorway or something.

If you're at Leeds railway station there are frequent direct trains to both Bradford stations 😉

Are you my bleedin mum Dave
I'm a cyclist - it's a bike ride.

 

[NorthernDave]

To be fair, you'll be fine with it although you may scratch your head at times and it might take longer than you think. The standard of driving in Bradford is notoriously bad and the main road it runs next to is busy, so just be aware.

As I've said above, the real mystery is how variable the standard of it is especially given the money spent on it.

 

[DRM]

Tend not to google streetview (I assume what you mean) before rides unless I think there's a chance I'll stray onto a motorway or something.


Are you my bleedin mum Dave
I'm a cyclist - it's a bike ride.

Let’s see how you feel after negotiating Bradford, I hate going into the place in the works van, the standard of driving, shall we say, leaves a lot to be desired, and basically anything goes, and usually at high speed.