MORE details have been revealed about proposed road and rail improvements to transform journeys to Leeds Bradford Airport have been revealed.
Public consultation on the plans has been opened, which includes three possible options to improve road access to the airport – which could cost up to £100 million – and a new parkway rail station.
Options for road improvements include two proposed routes for a bypass to ease traffic pressures in Rawdon and Yeadon, or expansion and improvement works at existing junctions.
READ MORE: Detailed information about the proposed plans was revealed yesterday
The new parkway station would be built on the Leeds-Harrogate railway line, providing better rail access to the airport.
It is predicted passenger numbers at the airport will more than double in the next 30 years, and chief executive of Leeds Bradford, David Laws, said these works are crucial to attract major airlines to the airport.
He said: “This is vital, I’ve said since I came into the post two years ago infrastructure in and around the airport needed to be addressed.
“This is vital not just for the airport, but for Yorkshire as a whole.
“The rail station makes access to the airport so much easier, and stops us clogging the roads up for local residents.
“Having a railway station it allows us to go and talk to the really big airlines about serving Yorkshire, and you need this things to make the bigger airlines sit up and take notice.
“When I was at Newcastle before, we put the Metrolink station in and that produced a million extra passengers and eventually resulted in the daily service from the Middle East, so why not have that here in Yorkshire as well?
“I hope the whole of Yorkshire gets behind this because it will make everyone’s life so much easier.
“What this will do for Yorkshire as a whole with inward tourism and inward investment, this will help attract bigger companies to relocate into the Leeds City Region. This will take us to a different level.
“If you look at Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham; they all have train stations and all have the big carriers into the Middle East and America, so why not Yorkshire too?”
Councillor Kim Grove, chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s transport committee, added: “It is crucial Leeds Bradford gets this investment and we are trying to do everything we can to make sure Yorkshire has a global airport.
“In terms of economic growth, this could be absolutely massive. With the growth the airport could be employing 10,000 people by 2030, most of which are employed locally.
“We have to listen to the public consultation and local people need to be at the heart of this consultation to give people what they want.”
