Life next to busy roundabout is ‘so dusty it stains the curtains’ say locals
Locals share their experiences living next to the busiest roundabout in Leeds.
Leeds residents have opened up about what life is like beside one of the city’s busiest roundabouts, which sprays so much dust all over their homes that ‘the curtains get stains’.
Seacroft Roundabout is located in a residential area on the outskirts of Leeds, connecting the Ring Road to the A64 and other major travel routes throughout the city.
Yet despite the noise, some locals claim to love the ‘countryside’ greenery the nearby area provides, while others have hit out at the ‘noisy boy racers’ speeding around it.
Leeds City Council has labelled the neighbourhood a ‘relaxed mowing area’. There are several trees growing on it, but it would be a challenge to hear any birds chirping around the roundabout.
DJ Sammy ‘Dreadlocks’ Glynn, 61, a member of the reggae-dub collective Iration Steppas, has lived in a house facing the roundabout for eight years.
But even though there’s ‘lots of noise’, he likes the area and often finds himself marvelling at the greenery it provides.
Sammy, a grandfather-of-five, said: ‘To be honest with you, I like it. To me, this is the countryside of the city. I don’t mind a bit of peace and quiet. But it’s nice to hear a bit of life, I don’t mind it. I get to see lots of vehicles.
‘We see horse and carts, as there are some travellers who live nearby, funeral parlours and everything. The only time I really come out here is if I’m doing a bit of work or getting my car. Otherwise, I’m in the back.
‘Out at the front, there’s lots of noise. But inside, you can’t hear it. And out in the garden in the evening, it’s much quieter.’
Sammy’s neighbour Ron Dixon has lived there for 40 years, and is worried that the sheer amount of pollution across the road may have given him asthma.
He claims the amount of dust whipped up by the roundabout is so vast that it blankets his house and car, and has even stained his curtains.
Ron, a grandfather of six, said: ‘What does worry me is the pollution. I’ve got asthma. If we leave the upstairs windows open, the curtains get stains on them. Plus, there’s a lot of dust in the house and sometimes it can feel a bit oily.
‘Sometimes I stand at the gate and can see traffic coming up from York Road and they’re coming around it at 40 miles an hour. They can see there’s a roundabout! Why are they doing that? It doesn’t help anybody.’
Dog walker Ann Kershaw, 62, also hit out at the ‘boy racers’ who speed around the roundabout.
She admits she gets nervous around it and she also worries for the safety of her dog, a nine-year-old Husky-Akita cross named Tia.
Ann, a grandmother of one, said: ‘It’s so busy, so much so that just recently there was an accident. There are a lot of bikers and boy racers who speed around it. They use this road as a racing track. The traffic is quite heavy.
‘I must admit when Tia goes by the side of it, I feel very wary in case a car leaves the road. It feels quite precarious. I’ll be honest with you, I feel a little bit nervous around because I don’t trust the drivers with the way they drive.’
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