The A660 is a major

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

in the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

districts of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

that runs from

Leeds city centre Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters. A ...

Burley-in-Wharfedale Burley in Wharfedale is a village and civil parish within the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, in the Wharfedale valley. In 2011, it had a population of 7,041. The village is on the A65 road, north-west from Leeds, north from Br ...

where it meets the A65. (The A65 also starts in Leeds and runs parallel to, and south of, the A660. It continues to

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

, Settle and

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

as a main trans- Pennine route.) The A660 is approximately long, and crosses the watershed from Airedale to lower

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

. For most of its length the road is in the

metropolitan district A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropol ...

of the

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

; the last is in

City of Bradford Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Wes ...

district.

Route

Leeds city centre to Leeds Ring Road

The A660 starts in

, officially at the junction of Woodhouse Lane and Claypit Lane. The northbound carriageway passes

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univer ...

's "civic quarter" campus, crosses the A58(M) ( Leeds Inner Ring Road), which is in a cutting, and passes the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

with its landmark tower. The southbound carriageway is separated, at one stage by several terraced streets. The carriageways combine before crossing Woodhouse Moor to Hyde Park. The road passes the buildings of Leeds Girls' High School and climbs to

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

, passing St Michael's Church and many shops and bars including the Arndale Centre. Shortly after the church, a plaque shows the site of the original

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

tree which gave its name to the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

of Skyrack ("Shire oak"): this is reflected in two pub names and nearby ''Shire Oak Road''. The road continues through Far Headingley and West Park. This stretch of the A660 was the route of the first

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

service in Leeds (to Far Headingley) and is still a major bus corridor, with several peak hour

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...

s. It suffers from high congestion, and there were historic plans to create a ''Headingley bypass''. Line 2 of the proposed Leeds Supertram was to be on this road, as is the "North Route" proposed in 2009 for New Generation Transport trolleybus service. Many students live near the road, and its many licensed premises host the Otley Run pub crawl. The road has several names in this section: ''Woodhouse Lane'' from ''Claypit Lane'' to Hyde Park (but ''Blenheim Walk'' for the separated southbound carriageway), ''Headingley Lane'' between Hyde Park and St Michael's church, Headingley, and ''Otley Road'' beyond this point.

Leeds Ring Road to A65

The A660 crosses the A6120 ( Leeds Ring Road – officially ''Leeds Outer Ring Road'') at Lawnswood, and then passes the western part of Adel. At Golden Acre Park the road crosses the Leeds Country Way footpath, which uses the underpass taking pedestrians from the car park to the park. The road passes east of the main part of Bramhope village, and the next major intersection is the A658

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

road: ''Pool Bank'' is a steep hill leading north-east from this junction down to Pool-in-Wharfedale. The road skirts the northern slopes of The Chevin before bypassing

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

to the south along the line of the former ''Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway'' (opened 1865, closed 1967). At the end of the Otley bypass the road crosses the A6038 (Otley to

), and then follows the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

before joining the A65 at the roundabout at the start of the

bypass. About before its end, the road crosses into

, having been in the

district for the rest of its length. The road is only separated from the county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

by a few yards and the width of the river Wharfe, which here forms the county boundary. The road is known as ''Otley Road'' until Golden Acre Park, then ''Leeds Road'' until the start of the Otley bypass.

History

In the early 18th century the main road from Leeds to Otley ran via Burley and Cookridge and over the top of The Chevin, while the road from Leeds to Headingley was only a country lane. The Leeds-Otley

Turnpike Trust Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road toll road, tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain from the 17th ...

was established in 1755, and improved the road from Leeds to Headingley and thence to Cookridge to join the existing road. There were toll bars in Woodhouse Lane and at Otley, and in 1775 a third toll house was built in Headingley village. In 1836 the trustees commissioned George Hayward to design a new route to bypass the steep slopes of The Chevin. The necessary Act of Parliament was passed in 1837, and the new stretch of road was opened in 1842, following today's route along the north side of the hill. Tolls on the road were abolished in January 1867, following the Leeds Improvement Act 1866. The first suburban horse-drawn bus service in Leeds was that to Far Headingley along this road, started in 1838, providing five services daily. The first

horse-drawn tram A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, which developed ou ...

in Leeds followed, in 1871. Fittingly, the number 1 bus service operated by First Leeds still runs on a route which includes the A660 from the city centre past Headingley and Lawnswood before turning off towards Holt Park.

Gallery of images along the A660 road

File:A660 near Otley.jpg, A660 near Otley, looking SE

References

External links

SABRE page on the A660

Google map of A660
{{DEFAULTSORT:6-0660 Roads in Yorkshire Transport in West Yorkshire Transport in Leeds