FAQs

Townhead Street and Leopold Street are important city centre streets. They connect the core of Sheffield City Centre with West Street, West Bar and the north of the city centre. Feedback from people who live, work and travel in the area tells us that Townhead Street and Leopold Street are difficult to move around. This is particularly true for people who walk, wheel and cycle, as the area currently prioritises vehicles over people. 

Recent changes to bus routes give us an opportunity to make traffic movements simpler. We can also improve safety and make the area more welcoming and accessible. The proposals support the wider transformation in the city centre too. This includes plans for new homes in future, and improvements that make it easier for people to walk, wheel, cycle and use public transport.

The current layout of the streets feels dominated by vehicles creating challenges for people walking and crossing. The proposals aim to:

• move crossing points closer to where people naturally want to cross.
• simplify vehicle movements to increase pedestrian priority.
• create more space for people on foot, cycling and wheeling.
• add a new cycle crossing at the top of Townhead Street.

A new cycle crossing will link Townhead Street to Leopold Street and the wider city centre. This will make crossing the junction easier and safer. The new cycle route will also connect to the wider cycle network including the Connecting Sheffield: Neepsend - Kelham Island - City centre route, Fargate, and the new routes we're creating on Pinstone Street and Surrey Street. 

We will also add new cycle stands in the area to make it easier for people to leave their cycles when visiting this part of the city centre.

Vehicle access to Leopold Street will continue via Barker’s Pool. Access from Townhead Street onto Leopold Street will change - we’ll put signs up to clearly indicate the diversion route. Improved crossings will make it easier and safer for people walking, wheeling and cycling to move through the area. A new cycle crossing at the top of Townhead Street will make cycling easier, and you’ll still be able to cycle both ways on Leopold Street.

The Sheffield Connect bus will be able to turn directly left onto West Street from Leopold Street, which will improve journey times. We will also improve the bus shelter at the Sheffield Connect stop on Leopold Street to make waiting more comfortable. 

Taxis will still be able to use the rank on Leopold Street, with access from Barker’s Pool, and we will improve the facilities for Blue Badge parking on Leopold Street too.

We’ll upgrade facilities for Blue Badge holders, delivery bays and taxi ranks on Leopold Street, to make the area safer and more accessible

We’ll change the current taxi rank near the junction with Barker’s Pool into a shared disabled parking bay and taxi rank. Blue Badge holders will be able to park in the bay during the day, between 8am and 6.30pm. Taxis will be able to use the bay to pick up and drop off in the evenings, between 6.30pm and 8am. 

We’ll also make this bay, and others along Leopold Street, level with the pavement to make it easier for people parking, loading or getting into and out of taxis.

We will transform part of Leopold Street with new paving and greenery. Wider pavements will also mean that bars and restaurants in the area can offer outdoor seating in better weather. This will help to make the area more vibrant and welcoming to visit. 

We will add public seating so there will be places to stop and rest. We will also create a new pocket park at the top of Townhead Street to bring more green space into the city centre.

You can complete our online survey, join us for a drop-in session or get in touch with the project team directly through any of the communication channels below:

• Email: info@connecting-sheffield.co.uk
• 9am-5pm Freephone: 0808 196 5105
• Freepost: Freepost Connecting SHF

The consultation is open from 9am on Monday 23 February until 11.59pm on Sunday 22 March. You can find all the details on this page.

Servicing and delivery arrangements will continue as they are on Townhead Street and Leopold Street. We may need to make some changes for safety reasons as the project progresses. We are discussing details with businesses and we will refine our plans based on their feedback.

We will widen the pavement area on Leopold Street on the Orchard Square side of the road. This will create space for businesses to offer outdoor seating in better weather. Businesses would need to apply for a licence for this through Sheffield City Council.

Townhead Street and Leopold Street are important city centre streets. They connect the core of Sheffield City Centre with West Street, West Bar and the north of the city centre. Feedback from people who live, work and travel in the area tells us that Townhead Street and Leopold Street are currently difficult to move around. This is particularly true for people who walk, wheel and cycle, as the area currently prioritises vehicles over people. 

Recent changes to bus routes give us an opportunity to simplify traffic movements at the junction of Townhead Street and Leopold Street. This will create space for the new crossings, cycle routes, paving and green spaces to make the area safer, more welcoming and accessible for everyone. 

The proposals also support the wider transformation works and developments in the city centre. This includes plans for new homes in future, and improvements that make it easier for people to walk, wheel, cycle and use public transport.

The project is funded by the central government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. It is delivered by Sheffield City Council and part‑funded by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. This money does not come from local Council tax, and we can only use the money to make improvements that give people more opportunities to walk, wheel, cycle or use public transport.

Consultation runs until 22 March 2026. Once all the feedback received during the consultation has been reviewed, the project team will consider any possible design amends before presenting the final designs for review and approval by Sheffield City Council. Upon being approved, we would then begin planning the construction timeline. We will share more details on the project website when we have them.