Micklegate Bar has reopened to eastbound traffic. All lanes are now open on Blossom Street.
According to Council sources the contractor responsible for removing the temporary road closure signs did not act promptly to remove them when the gas main replacement work was completed.
We think that the Council could have done much better in keeping users updated on the reasons for the delays.
Further down Tadcaster Road, the gas main replacement works are still behind schedule, but there is one piece of good news.
It appears that there will be no total closure of St Helens Roadwhen the works reach that junction. Instead 3 way temporary traffic lights will be used.
It remains unclear when this part of the project will actually start.
Micklegate Bar and Blossom Street lane closures still in place
Work on replacing gas mains on Blossom Street and next to Micklegate Bar were completed 2 weeks ago it has emerged today.
Micklegate Bar was due to reopen to traffic today and the two lane closures on Blossom Street were also due to end.
Sources at Gas Networks are now suggesting that the closures could remain in place for another 3 weeks as the York Council is apparently struggling to coordinate carriageway resurfacing works.
An expected closure for further gas main replacement works on St Helens Road was due to start today, necessitating a bus route diversion. There is no sign of such a closure which was originally scheduled to start two weeks ago.
No updates have been issued on social media by either the Council or Gas Networks.
The Council has not issued any information to the media and both the road closure listand map showing current roadworkshave not been updated.
The road network is expected to become gradually busier as the lockdown restrictions are eased. The restricted lane widths on Blossom Street represent a particular hazard for cyclists.
Good to see that two way cycle access through Micklegate Bar has been restored.
May owe something to todays gales which have blown over the guard rails!
The expectation is that carriageway resurfacing here and on Blossom Street will be concluded over the weekend with normal working restored for all traffic on Monday.
Road users face several more months of congestion on one of York’s main arterial routes.
We commented on Friday that it seemed that gas main works at Micklegate Bar would not be finished by todays deadline.
Gas main replacement work on Tadcaster Road 27th February 2021
Further down the route gas main laying is edging forward but with no end in sight.
Work at the St Helens Road junction is due to start tomorrow.
Now the Council has said that it will also start drainage testing, cleaning and improvement works on the section from the A64 to the Askham Bar roundabout.
The work is expected to last for 5 weeks. (This is the section of carriageway which wasn’t resurfaced last year). Most of the work is expected to take place in the late afternoon or overnight.
When this work is completed, works are planned for the section between Askham Bar and Blossom Street.
The improvements are expected to cost around £5 million.
While we think that the Council is right to get as much work done, on well used roads, while traffic levels are relatively low, we are not convinced that the last years work, and this years projects, could not have been better coordinated.
According to the Council web siteworks on replacing gas mains in Micklegate and Blossom Street are due to be completed today (26th February 2021).
Works in St Helens Road are due to start on Monday
The restrictions at Micklegate Bar have been awkward for pedestrians and cyclists, while other vehicles have been banned from using the route altogether.
Some attempt has recently been made to allow for cycle movements to be restored through the Bar.
Yesterday there still appeared to be a lot of work remaining to be completed.
Of six highway defects reported on Saturday, the Council has agreed to address only two of them.
Further work is promised on Gladstone Street and School Street.
Gladstone Street and School Street
Elsewhere it seems there is no prospect of repairs on Walker Drive, Vincent Way, Hotham Avenue or Lowfields Drive
Lowfields Drive – Council won’t fill in potholes
The Council seems to be no closer to bitmacing the small section of verge on Kingsway West, near Newbury Avenue, which has been subject to overrun damage for over 5 years now
We understand that the Council is considering using the little Green Lane garage area as a compound during housing modernisation works. A storage unit has already appeared there
It looks like many highways defects have been left waiting for attention for so long that expensive remedial works are now needed.
Many carriageways which needed patching in the summer and autumn were ignored. Now some are worn down to the hardcore base while others have multiple surface defects. Several represent a hazard for two wheeled transport users.
We have reported the following streets (but these may just be the tip of the iceberg).
Walker Drive
Vincent Way
Gladstone Street
Hotham Avenue
Lowfields Drive
School Street
There are also some problems also with leaf and tree detritus. We’ve reported two areas
Green Lane
Kingsthorpe
Finally builders waste has been dumped in the little Green Lane garage area. We’ve asked for it to be removed.
Millennium Green will receive the first in a series of major improvements as part of the York Central infrastructure works starting on site next week.
Clearance works started last month across the 42 hectare brownfield site, which will provide up to 2500 new homes; up to 6500 jobs as well as vastly improved visitor access experience at the National Railway Museum.
City of York Council and contractors, John Sisk and Son, are delivering letters to neighbouring residents giving full details of the latest works on both Millennium Green and adjacent to Bishopfields Drive. The works include:
Millennium Green
Clearing vegetation and a small number of trees
Improving around 300m of footpath
A new timber viewing platform and renewal works on the pond
3 new benches
Improvements to the southern culvert wall and footpath including replacements steps, and handrail
New fence along the eastern boundary
Temporary fencing and flooring to protect the Millennium Green oak and mosaic throughout the works
Land adjacent to Bishopfields Drive
Removing a small area of treeline essential to allow the infrastructure works, while protecting remaining trees from the works.
The Millennium Green’s lease included a ‘take-back’ option for a small area of land in the north wet to allow the York Central regeneration.
Following consultation with local residents in 2018, the Trust agreed a package which includes a license to use some land during construction, the landscaping of this land when the access road is finished, the provision of alternative land to replace the area taken back and a payment of £375,000 to the Trust to secure its future and fund an ongoing maintenance programme.
Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:
York Central remains one of the most important and attractive regeneration sites in the country and is an opportunity that many other towns and cities in the UK would envy.
“At the same time as making progress to provide the jobs and houses the city needs, we want to protect and enhance our city’s green spaces. Trees are only being removed where absolutely essential, and will be more than replaced by the 300 mature trees planted during the next phases of infrastructure works. York Central will also include the largest park in the city for 100 years and areas to encourage biodiversity, while the council will plant 50,000 trees in York by 2023.
“The Council will continue to working closely with John Sisk and Sons to limit any disruption to neighbouring residents and businesses, and to keep them informed of any planned works. As ever, we thank all local residents and businesses for their patience.”
All the work has been approved as part of the planning approval on the site.
York Central is being delivered in partnership by Network Rail, Homes England, National Railway Museum and City of York Council. Homes England and Network Rail have supported the development of the site through land acquisition and master planning, and they will now oversee the infrastructure projects.
John Sisk and Son have been appointed as lead contractor for these site clearance works.
This infrastructure work is part of a wider £155m funding pot secured by the York Central Partnership to deliver infrastructure to open up the site for development.
This includes:
£77.1m funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
£23.5m of a total of £37.2m from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal, which will also fund the ambitious plans to transform the front of the railway station.
The West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund has been part-funded through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal, a £1 billion package of Government funding to drive growth and job creation across the Leeds City Region.
The aim is to create around 20,000 new jobs and add £2.4 billion a year to the economy by the mid-2030s. On top of a £6m Local Growth Fund contribution, from the York and North Yorkshire LEP, a further £35m has been secured to be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone.
