Introduction ::
The Heeley Bypass is a generic name for a route that would have
linked the central city centre area to both the inner ring road and
the A61 south of the city centre. It is unclear at this stage as to
the ultimate classification, but from the designs that I have seen
the route outlined below would probably have been a dual
carriageway. Dates of the proposals are unclear and I would
appreciate any further assistance on dating the various route
options.
:: The Heeley Bypass in Context
City Centre to St Mary's Gate ::
From the north, starting in the City Centre, the route would have
linked to the central ring road at what is now known as Charter
Square. Travelling south along Eyre Street, the first major
intersection is with the inner ring road, where it meets Bramall
Lane. In the 1960/1970's this junction was planned as grade
separated, with the Inner Ring Road passing over the Bramall Lane
Roundabout as a dual carriageway and the Heeley Bypass route meeting
at grade with the roundabout as it is today.
St Mary's Gate to Asline Road ::
Continuing south, there is evidence that Clough Road would have pass
either under or over the route, although it is unclear as to why
this would be. Bramall Lane currently gives clues to a greater
planned past, with the housing and businesses to the west of Bramall
Lane :: Here :: cleared in preparation for the route. Bramall Lane
was until the mid 1990's had a protected line placed on the western
side to allow for future widening, this is currently protected to
allow the future widening to 3 lanes, i.e. a single carriageway,
with an inbound bus lane. Notably, the two public houses on Bramall
Lane, survived demolition
Asline Road to Myrtle Bridge ::
Further south, the next major junction would have been with Asline
Road, although it is very likely that this would have been part of a
larger junction with Queens Road. The junction with Queens Road has
been proposed both as a major grade separated intersection and later
as a roundabout. Again the current street scene gives signs to the
buildings that were cleared in preparation of the scheme
:: Here ::
although some of the cleared areas have now been rebuilt upon,
notably the large rectangular building as a retail warehouse and the
octagonal building as a car dealership. Again, the public house on
the corner of Queens Road and Myrtle Road survived demolition.
Queens Road is worthy of mention at this point, as there are indications that this corridor could have been proposed as urban motorway, I certainly recall seeing old plans that showed a fully grade separated intersection here and the Sheffield Urban Motorway plans, hint at Queens Road having hard shoulders and continuing from the north-south urban motorway to the rear of the Midland Railway Station. So the questions are, where exactly did the planned north-south urban motorway end in the south ? Was Queens Road a motorway where it met Bramall Lane ? Could the urban motorway have turned to follow the route of the Heeley Bypass or did it simply continue south towards Abbeydale Road ? and where exactly are the 39 steps ! :¬)
Heeley Park ::
The southern most part of the route, again was practically cleared
of all housing and businesses shown
:: Here :: looking towards the
south. Again, the corridor was redeveloped in the 1980's after the
scheme had been shelved, with a new urban farm, green parks and
children's play areas. The route would have crossed the GNER railway
line adjacent to Myrtle Road Bridge, turning south to follow what is
now known as Heeley Farm, continuing south parallel to Chesterfield
Road, before turning west to join Chesterfield Road somewhere
between Thirlwell Road and Valley Road.
Further South ::
There seems to be some logic that ending the Heeley Bypass at
Chesterfield Road, would have been a strange place to end such a
major route. It's fair to say that the route could have been
extended further south, running parallel to the railway before
turning south to join back with the A61 somewhere south of Woodseats.
Looking at the aerial photography, suggests possible route, but I'll
look into that in a future feature. Needless to say, both the A61
and A57 in Sheffield where historically trunk roads, that never
really joined with a quality link - Time to go digging in the
archives !
Further Reading ::
:: The Sheffield Urban Motorway
Wish List ::
:: Original Plans
:: Original Leaflets
:: Dated map extracts
Visitor Comments ::
:: None yet