Council asks disabled residents for feedback on foot-streets extension

City of York Council is asking disabled people across York to let them know how city centre changes made in response to coronavirus have affected accessibility.

In June 2020 the council executive agreed to emergency measures to expand the number of pedestrianised ‘footstreets’, which now run for an extra three hours until 8pm, to allow more space for social distancing and for cafes and restaurants to take advantage of pavement trading.

“The actions are designed to support the council’s Economic Recovery – Transport and Place One Year Strategy, adopted by the Executive on 24 June 2020. This aims to build resident, visitor and stakeholder confidence that York is a safe, healthy and attractive place for everyone”.

Replacement blue badge parking has been added at different locations around the edges of the city centre, with more added this week*. A free taxi service – set to continue until at least 20 September – has been available between Monk Bar car park and St Andrewgate.

Most of the spaces reserved for the disabled at Monk Bar car park have not been used

The council want to hear from all disabled people in York, whether they use a blue badge or not, and any other residents who feel the footstreets extension has affected their ability to access the city centre.

The council wants to hear from disabled people, blue badge holders, carers and anyone else who feels the footstreets changes have affected the ease with which they can access the city centre.

The results of the engagement will:
1. Provide ways to improve the existing alternative access arrangements
2. Give the council’s Executive a full understanding of the impact of the footstreets extension and provide options to increase accessibility to the city centre if the extension continues.

With public gatherings difficult during the current restrictions, the council is using a survey approach – available online and hard copy – as well as talking to disabled groups across the city to reach their members.

The council is also scheduling an online workshop in Mid-September to explore the challenges.

You can join the conversation in a number of ways. You can fill in a survey by Monday 28 September at www.york.gov.uk/OBCAccess, A hard copy of the survey along with a freepost return address will also be included in the September edition of the council’s Our City publication, distributed to York households from 7 September.
If you are interested in taking part in an online workshop to explore the challenges around accessibility and footstreets and ideas please email OurBigConversation@york.gov.uk .

The changes

Visitor spend in City centre increasing

Following on from our story yesterday which plotted how “footfall” was increasing in York an independent organisation has now reported that “spend” is also recovering.

The “Centre for Cities” says that York is just outside the national top ten of centres that are doing well.

York has an index of 97. The best is Bournemouth with 117.

Larger Cities like London and Manchester are doing less well.

Coronavirus York updates; 3rd September 2020

Deaths and test results

There has been one additional positive test result announced today. That brings the cumulative total to 976. The trend in case numbers based on a 7 day moving average continues to increase.

There have been no additional hospital deaths

According to the government map there has been another peak in cases in the Woodthorpe/Acomb Park/Foxwood area

Marygate car park full

Marygate car park has been full today with around half a dozen cars at anytime patrolling the service roads waiting for someone to vacate a space.

The 40 odd spaces on the railway side of the car park are still coned off. There is little use made of these by cyclists and an alternative is available – using the service road – only a couple of feet away.

The old shared use footpath is also very lightly used making social distancing easy.

Residents will wonder what it takes to get the Council to review this obviously perverse decision.

Perhaps the Groves counter-revolutionaries will pay a visit and realign the cones?

In the meantime the Council is losing around £400 a day in car park charge income.

With City centre car parks very busy this week, it is surprising that LNER haven’t taken the opportunity to sell more spaces on their otherwise largely empty car park at the railway station.

Not many people are going to pay £18 for a days parking but the company could help themselves by marketing spaces at a discounted rate.

At the moment they are bringing in no income for the beleaguered, state owned, outfit.

Groves traffic scheme update

Lord Mayors Walk was busy at lunchtime today as was Clarence Street. But traffic was moving.

Debris from York’s inner city riot (planter damaged by counter revolutionaries!) has been removed. A damaged road closed sign can be seen in Lowther Street

Concrete blocks have been installed on Penleys Grove Street

…and on St Johns Crescent. (Rather ugly?)
NB. The planters were supplied, on a commercial basis, by the disabled persons cooperative.

Meanwhile LEGO has been deployed at the junction of Eldon Street and Lowther Street

Contraflow cycle lane on Markham Street. In effect there is no room for a cyclist to pass a van coming in the opposite direction. Street is heavily parked up so avoidance is very difficult. Really quite an unsafe arrangement.

Haxby Road end of Markham Street. No warning about contraflow cyclists. Dead end sign no more true of this street than several others nearby.

Misleading sign on Lowther Street. Should read “no through road”. Shops and businesses are open

…and a superfluous sign on St John Road.? Hasn’t been a through route for some years.

Groves traffic scheme already looking half baked?

After the shambles of the Bishopthorpe Road closure and before it the Lendal Bridge fiasco, you might have expected that proposed major changes to the road network in York would have been handled with caution by the Council.

It appears not judging by the reaction to the road closures in The Groves yesterday. Activists even took to removing some of the physical barriers (planters) while a Press headline pronounced a (slightly exaggerated) “Gridlock” on Lord Mayors Walk..

If gridlock is to become a reality, then it is likely to be in wet weather following a return to school and the reopening of city centre offices. It is then that the emergency services together with public transport, utilities and delivery drivers will face their greatest challenge.

Unfortunately, without the consent of residents, changes like this will always result in confrontation.

Executive Cllr Andy D’Agorne approved a plan to limit traffic in the Groves area at a meeting held on 24^th October 2019. The plan was supported by the two Labour Councillors and one Green who represent The Groves area.

Later Green Party supporters were to try to blame the LibDems for the plan using an “only following orders” from the coalition defence. In truth, the LibDem leadership stood aloof from the issue and chose to watch on while the drama unfolded. The Tories as usual were late into the game, waiting to see how the wind blew before acquiring retrospective wisdom. The timetables attached to the Tory government transport grant offer helped to provoke the stumble.

We believe that Andy D’Agorn is a sincere man who holds passionate, albeit uncompromising, beliefs. He deserves respect for standing up for his views in a very public way. However such drive needs to be tempered with humility and a willingness to take a step back.

A decision was made by Cllr D’Agone on 22^nd June 2020 to restyle the proposals as a reaction to the COVID crisis. Ostensibly he wanted a slice of the governments sustainable transport grant. Significant changes were made to the original proposals although there was no further consultation.

Very low traffic levels on Penley’s Grove Street in recent months

There was no poll which could have offered all affected residents, whether they lived in the Groves or elsewhere in the City, the opportunity to support the new plans or opt to retain the status quo.

A change of this scale should have been publicised by delivering a leaflet to every home at least in east York. It was not. Publicity relied heavily on social media.

The Variable Message Signs on York streets referred to changes in The Groves, repeating the Lendal bridge failing. Many motorists do not actually know the names of the bridges, streets and neighbourhoods that they might be driving over or through.

“On street” signage was woeful – possibly the consequence of the rushed implementation.

Sat Nav systems still direct drivers into what are now dead-end streets. A nightmare for the growing number of delivery drivers who have filled the supply void since the pandemic.

So what can be done? It is true that things will “settle down”. Police action could force drivers onto alternative routes like the already congested Clarence Street.

If “through traffic” is to be excluded from The Groves, then a gate or rising bollard could be introduced on Penley’s Grove Street and Lowther Street. This would allow selective vehicle access for local residents together with emergency vehicles, utilities, deliveries etc. It might be a costly system with reliability an issue but it would remove some unnecessary journey’s, and the pollution which they would generate, from neighbouring roads.

There does need to be an attempt to find a consensus solution, which could attract wide support in the City, before any more impulsive decisions are made.