Armley Gyratory

The completed scheme provides safer and more attractive walking and cycling routes between communities, including Wortley and Holbeck and Leeds city centre.

Alongside improved accessibility, the wider Armley Gyratory upgrades have increased vehicle capacity, improved traffic flow and helped reduce congestion at the junction. More than 550 trees were also planted as part of the project, complemented by landscaping that supports biodiversity and improves the local environment.

During construction, the project team worked through challenging conditions and managed to keep travel disruption to a minimum. The project was registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) and made efforts to raise standards for the communities in which Balfour Beatty worked and to improve the performance and overall perception of the construction industry.

The team was visited by CCS on four occasions throughout the Armley Gyratory scheme and achieved an average score of 45.25 across the visits that is marked as ‘EXCELLENT’.

The Armley Gyratory project supported 9.6 weeks of work experience on the scheme, with two-thirds of placements supporting female students.

The placements covered a wide range of roles, including sustainability, quantity surveying and civil engineering.

Seven of these weeks were provided for students from Leeds College of Building. The project team also visited the college to take part in a panel discussion on ‘Women in Construction’. The placements were a great success, with half of the students going on to apply for apprenticeships with Balfour Beatty while still on their placement.

In total, the project supported:

• Two graduates (both on the Balfour Beatty graduate scheme)
• A summer placement student
• A year-in-industry placement student from Leeds Beckett University
• Three apprentices (Balfour Beatty and Leeds City Council)
• A site visit from local students

Balfour Beatty focused most of the project’s volunteering efforts on helping to maintain and improve the natural environment in and around Leeds. The team volunteered with four local environmental organisations throughout the project: Leeds Countryside Rangers, Harewood House Estate, Litter Free Leeds and Groundwork.

Taking part in a number of activities, from wild meadow management to laying down a gravel path at a high footfall area of Armley Park, the Armley Gyratory team volunteered for a total of 130.5 hours.

Tree planting formed an important part of the landscaping works, both replacing trees that were removed to facilitate the works and additional planting. In total, the project planted 556 new trees, both around the Gyratory itself and at other appropriate locations around the city.

As well as the environmental volunteering, three volunteers from the project helped for a day at Surplus to Purpose, a social enterprise that prevents food waste and provides affordable food options to local residents by intercepting food before it goes to landfill.

The Armley Gyratory project also donated eight litres of anti-graffiti topcoat paint to the local community group Armley Action Team to help protect their new street art mural on Gelder Road. The mural, named ‘The Gelder Rose’, was created by local artist collective We Belong Here alongside local young people, providing creative learning opportunities and artistic collaboration. The purpose of the mural was to improve the appearance of the area, creating a more welcoming and colourful location, and to engage local young people creatively about their local area. The donation from Balfour Beatty, worth £497, will help ensure that the mural is protected for many years to come.