Sheffield set for new dual carriageway to cut emissions and benefit from HS2

The half-mile, four-lane road would replace the tram route behind Sheffield station, below Park Hill flats.

Sheffield City Council says it would help ‘address the climate emergency’ with a traffic ban on Sheaf Street promoting walking, cycling and tram use. The authority has promised to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The proposal is part of £1.5bn plan to redevelop the area around Sheffield station ahead of high speed rail when it arrives in the 2030s.

New tram lines would be laid along Pond Street. Park Hill Roundabout would be closed and new offices built on it.

And traffic from the Parkway would be diverted on to the new dual carriageway. It would follow today’s tram route behind the station to a new junction with Granville Square near Sheffield College.

A council report on the scheme states: ‘Moving the tram to Pond Street opens up the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a new Inner Relief Road route to the east of the station.

‘The current highway layout is no longer fit for purpose and causes a variety of problems. Strategic and fundamental changes to the road network will reduce congestion, improve air quality and safety and provide capacity where and when it will be needed.

‘By removing the road barrier, and opening up new green space, Midland Station will be better and more safely connected with the bus station and the city core.

‘Sheaf Street, Suffolk Road and other adjacent roads can then be re-purposed for making new places with greenspace, dedicated walking and cycling routes and high-quality public realm.’

It adds: ‘This proposal will allow Park Square roundabout to be reconfigured, creating a large new area of development land from what is currently road space.

‘The realignment of the road and tram network is seen as the critical component to making this transformational change.’

The 20-year plan would be Sheffield’s biggest ever. It was approved by Sheffield City Council in March and is set to go out for public consultation.

It also includes a wide landscaped pedestrian bridge from Park Hill over the station and continuing high above Sheaf Square all the way to Howard Street. The multi-storey car park on Turner Street would be demolished and moved further away.

It would be replaced by an office block - one of up to 12 planned in the ‘Sheffield Valley’ zone, including four outside the station, employing up to 3,000 people. Up to 1,000 homes - flats and houses - could also be built.

In March, Mazher Iqbal, cabinet member for business and development, said the plan was to maximise the economic potential of the area and make the most of HS2.

He added: “This is the biggest, most ambitious and most expensive development project Sheffield has seen.”

The idea stems from plans for HS2 trains to stop at Midland Station on a loop off the mainline.

7Alongside HS2, ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’ is being planned by Transport for the North to transform connectivity between Northern cities.

On David Walsh’s social feeds, Tom Wolfenden, chief executive of Sheffield Technology Parks, wondered if a tunnel was needed: “I've always felt the city centre was limited by a relatively small inner ring road. Extending that out is only a good thing, although I wonder if it could go under a cut and cover tunnel instead of segragating Park Hill.”

Edward Murphy, founder at Ollio building consultancy, was also in favour of a tunnel.

“What about keep the new route but ‘cut and cover’ tunnel part of it to bring Park Hill into the same space as Sheaf District and the tram and rail station.

“I feel a tech district here next to Sheffield Hallam University and potentially HS2 would be boosted by this move. All also fits with Boris national plans to cosy up to high growth tech sector post Brexit.”

Thomas Price, architect, responded: ‘I don’t like the idea of large undercrofts of tunnel in city centres that we want to be people friendly.

‘I think it is a great shame to cut off Park Hill from the city centre when as much as possible needs to be done to bring the two together. Also, from an ecological view, building a road we already have and a tram route that we already have, doesn’t seem a great use of resources.

‘Sorry to be negative but that road would create a horrible barrier between Park Hill and the city centre that no end of green bridges will alleviate. Not to mention that the underpass for that green bridge would also be a horrible space. Green bridges are also quite threatening pedestrian spaces at night. The cost of cutting the road into that hillside will be where most of the 1.5 billion goes.’

Graham Wroe was dubious about the climate claims: “It is deceitful to couch this as an improvement when it is building a polluting dual carriageway through Sheaf Valley Park. Sheffield Council has declared a climate emergency but are planning to spend £1.5 billion on a road building scheme.”

Chris Dymond of Sheffield Digital, said: “I’d like to see where/how the new ring road section would connect to the parkway, and how Park Hill, Ponds Forge, the Sheaf are affected, but generally speaking placing the station *inside* the ring road is a very good idea in terms of flow and access.”

A spokeswoman for Sheffield BID said: “This is a very welcome masterplan; an ambitious vision for enhancing the city, access across the region and refurbishment of the wider area.”

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