Leeds City Council has introduced new signage in the city centre to ensure pedestrian safety in its busiest areas after receiving high volumes of complaints.
With up to 60,000 pedestrians in city streets daily the initiative addresses concerns about delivery cyclists’ speed and volume. The council aims to create a safer environment while supporting essential delivery services, promising further enforcement action if the issue continues.
Mark Durham, Head of Leeds City Centre Management for Leeds City Council, said: “We talk to the delivery companies that people most associate with this issues, and we all recognise that delivery companies are a fundamental part of economy for a town or city centre, so some restaurants will tell you that 40% of their business is derived through delivery cyclist, so we don’t want this to be misconstrued as an anti-delivery cycling measure.”
The council believes the public want to see that the council are doing something and recognise the complaints, and trying something, as well as talking to companies, and the public support these new signs.
It is not going to solve the problem in its entirety, and the hope is that the cyclists will take it more slowly and act more respectfully.
Mr Durham said: “Companies that operate in this field want to ensure that their drivers operate safely, so they are willing to abide by any local legislation that local authorities want to bring about, so riders can carry out their day-to -day operations.”
Video article about new cyclists’ safety signage in Leeds City Centre. credit: Rajveer Kaur, Yorkshire Voice.
Delivery companies were contracted for comment, but did not respond by the time of publication.