A Leeds woman has said she feels trapped in her own home because of roadworks happening on the street where she lives that will see a cycle lane installed.
Mary Spencer, from Hunslet, says works have been ongoing since September this year to build a two-way cycle lane on Church Street. Mary, who has mobility issues and uses a walking stick, says the roadworks have made it 'impossible' for her to cross the road in front of her home.
While the works are ongoing, a barrier is up along the stretch of road in front of Mary's house and temporary traffic lights are in place. Mary says she currently can't cross the road to get to the GP surgery she lives opposite due to the kerb being too high and the road too busy, and has to drive to get to the surgery she can see from her window.
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Mary told LeedsLive: "I have to drive if I want to go out. I have an autoimmune condition which means I can’t walk far and cannot stand for long - I can't cross the road anymore and it makes me feel like a prisoner in my own home.
"The kerb is much too high for me at the moment - it makes it impossible for me to cross. For anyone elderly or in a wheelchair, they would have no access.
"It feels like there was a total lack of consideration of reasonable adjustments. South Leeds gets so many roadworks.
"I'm all for dealing with the climate emergency - I'm not a NIMBY and I want the air quality to improve but I don't think this is the way to do it."
Leeds City Council notified residents such as Mary about the scheme, and there was a consultation period. Mary says she raised her concerns that the cycle lane would make crossing hard and her property difficult to access then.
The council said the barriers are temporary, and there will be a dropped kerb once works are complete. Works are due to finish in April.
At the moment, the footpath finishes shortly after Mary's house due to the ongoing works. Mary explained it is a busy road to cross, and the temporary traffic light currently in place means it is even busier - making it daunting for her to cross when she can't stand for long.
"I don't understand why the cycle lane is on this side of the road when no one lives on the other side," Mary added.
"There's always traffic idling outside of my house because it's so busy now, I feel like the traffic is getting pushed into Hunslet recently. It feels like they just don't care."
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "We have been in regular contact with Ms Spencer to discuss her concerns about the scheme, which has been developed in consultation with mobility groups and is due to be completed in April. The scheme will include a series of dropped kerbs and controlled crossings along the route, and the height of the kerbs will also be lower once surfacing works are completed.
“We appreciate that the barriers around the works can cause an obstruction but these are necessary to ensure the safety of residents and colleagues carrying out the works. In the meantime we apologise for any inconvenience and thank people for their patience.”
The council added the the cycle lane is being installed on the side of the road with houses because this side of the road is more popular with cyclists. Before the cycle lane, the road was marked with double yellow lines.
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there were double yellow lines before so wouldn't have been able to get large deliveries
