Roadworks on Fishergate and Wigginton Road to start next week

 

City of York Council will be carrying out resurfacing works from next week at Fishergate (starting 17 February) and Wigginton Road (starting 9 March).

The Fishergate works start on Monday 17 February and will take around seven nights to complete (weather permitting), working between 7.30pm till 5am, Monday to Friday only (weekend excluded).

In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the junction of Kilburn Road up to, but not including, the junction of Fewster Way will be put in place.

Fulford Road and the junction of Cemetery Road will also be closed as part of the works. A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic.

Buses will be diverted during working hours as follows:

Phase 1 – Junction of Cemetery Rd & Fishergate – Services 7 and 415 – Inbound via Heslington Lane, University Rd, Heslington Rd, Kent St. Outbound via Kent Street, Heslington Rd, University Rd, Heslington Lane.

Phase 2 – Fishergate closed between Cemetery Rd and Fawcett St – Services 7 and 415 – Inbound via Cemetery Rd, Kent Street, Fawcett St. Outbound via Paragon St, Fawcett St, Kent St, Cemetery Rd.

Phase 3 – Fawcett Street closed between Kent Street and Fishergate – Services 7 and 415- normal route inbound. Outbound via Kent Street, Cemetery Rd. Services 66/N66 – inbound via Cemetery Rd, Fishergate. Outbound via normal route.

The Wigginton Road works will start Monday 9 March and will take around two weeks to complete (weather permitting), working between 8pm till 5am, Monday to Friday.

In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the roundabout at A1237 to the traffic light junction at Mill Lane will be necessary. A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic.

During both schemes, site staff will be on hand to advise and assist residents about the access restrictions once the works are ongoing.

Any specific access requirements maybe arranged by speaking to the Site Traffic Management Operatives or the Engineer who will co-ordinate with residents and business requirements around ongoing construction operations.

Emergency services will be permitted at all times. Cyclists will have to dismount and use the footways.

As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption and inconvenience to the public, however the contractor will try at all times to keep any disruption to a minimum.

To keep up-to-date with the latest road works in York visit www.york.gov.uk/roadworks or follow @York_Travel on social media.

Residents can contact Murtaza Khaliq, site supervisor, on 07880 505375, if they have any concerns during the works, particularly if this is related to noise issues.

The Mount road works restart tomorrow

Scheme to be completed in January

Works at the junction of The Mount and Scarcroft Road will resume from Monday 6 January 2020, and are expected to last for up to 4 weeks.

This follows works in October to improve the junction of The Mount, Dalton Terrace and Albemarle Road, and also the junction of The Mount and Scarcroft Road.

The roadworks took longer than planned, so City of York Council is coming back to complete the final stage to refurbish and replace the traffic signals in January. This is to avoid any disruption on the run up to and during the Christmas period. 

Works will take place Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm and weekends 8am to 4pm. www.york.gov.uk/TheMount

This final stage is estimated to take no more than four weeks to complete.

Traffic management will be in place at the junction during the works and motorists are expected to experience some delays while the works are underway.

They are asked to plan their journey carefully and leave additional time if passing through the area. It is not anticipated that there will be any diversions or suspensions to bus services or stops, however, to allow construction to take place the inbound bus lane will be suspended during the works.  It will be also be necessary to suspend some of the on street parking on the cobbles on The Mount during the works and this will be advertised separately.

Controlled pedestrian crossings will be provided during construction to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely.  There will be some temporary footway closures in place to allow works to be undertaken, however, full access will be retained to all businesses and properties during construction. 

For more information visit: www.york.gov.uk/TheMount 

Stonegate carriageway repaving work will last for 4 months.

£500,000 scheme takes up significant proportion of this years highways resurfacing budget

Stonegate

For the first time in a generation, City of York Council is completely repaving Stonegate.

Over the years the council has replaced damaged or worn paving stones but is now investing around £500,000 to fully repave the entire length of Stonegate, with natural Yorkstone paving and concrete foundations.

Over time there has been significant defects in the surface of the road, where paving slabs are broken and uneven, which make it unsafe for pedestrians.

The scheme will enhance the street’s appearance and character, creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment, attracting more people into the area and improving access for pedestrians.

The works will be split into four phases with each phase taking around four weeks to complete and will start from Monday 6 January until Friday 3 April.

It’s estimated that a scheme of this size would normally take around four months to complete. The council will aim to do as much work as possible (weather permitting) before the Easter break, when work will stop.

Over 20 retailers and businesses fed back at a session in November to say they would prefer the council to carry out this scheme in the quieter months of January to March.

This feedback has all been taken on board and works will stop before the Easter holidays start and the council will come back in early 2021 to fully complete the scheme (around an additional four weeks) – if the council is unable to complete the works beforehand.

Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Executive Member for Transport, said: “Stonegate is steeped in history and was one of the first paved-roads in York, which was a direct route to transport the Minster stone whist it was being built. It’s one of the most loved streets in our city centre so this investment will ensure the street keeps its special character.”

Although loved for its paving, Stonegate wasn’t always a paved-road. Photographs sourced from the Explore York Archives show Stonegate’s surface was made up of sets/cobbles in the 1890s and in the 1940s was a tarmac surface.

The high cost of resurfacing this, relatively modest, length of road highlights just how inadequate the Councils highway maintenance budgets are.

Stonegate resurfacing – Frequently asked questions

Potholes report confirms York has a major problem and it is getting worse

A report on highway maintenance in the City reveals that the value of the current back log of maintenance is approximately one hundred and twelve million (£112 million) based on the current condition and cost of repairs.

The figure confirms what many residents had feared. The condition of York’s roads and footpaths is continuing to decline

A separate annex reveals that, in most parts of the City, between 3% and 10% of carriageways are rated as “structurally impaired”. These are “very poor”, the lowest condition rating.

The percentage of roads classified as “very poor” has increased in every ward in the City during the last 3 years.

The figures also confirm that the City’s roads have not recovered from the draconian maintenance cuts imposed by the then Labour administration in 2012.

More recently the new LibDem/Green led Council has substantially increased the resources allocated to highway maintenance.

 The figure also includes a delegated budget to be determined at ward level. There is little evidence that this money has so far been invested*.

The report says that from 1st April 2019 until 26th November 2019, the council has completed “16,646.3 m² of pothole repairs, this equates to 520 m² per week, this is 29.71 m² per day, per gang”.

This can be compared with the same period in 2018 when the council completed “7,586.4 m² of pothole repairs, this equates to 237 m² per week, with training etc. that was 18.9 m² per gang, per day”

Some of the parties vying for votes at the General Election are promising to fill in all potholes. Government funding has been consistently low in recent years.

We doubt that central government appreciates the scale of the backlog in maintenance work which currently exists

*Each ward also has a share of a £500,000 fund earmarked for improvements for “cyclists and pedestrians”. So far suggestions from residents for the use of this fund – for example to reduce ponding problems on routes across amenity areas – have produced little positive response from officials

Too many potholed roads in York.

The York Council is being urged to get on with patching works on roads which are already damaged. Failure to act soon could result in the surfaces breaking up as frost takes its toll.

Kingswood Grove
Uneven carriageway on Queenswood Grove

The Council are making good progress on the large resurfacing job on Gale Lane which should be finished by the end of the week

Gale Lane – partial closure this week. Number 4 bus service affected

Monday 18th – Friday 22nd November

Gale Lane (St Stephens Road to Cornlands Road) closed between the hours of 09:15 – 17:00 for carriageway maintenance works.

Service 4 – The service will operate to southern end of Green Lane, turn around roundabout and return through Acomb via Green Lane, Front Street, Gale Lane, resuming normal route at Cornlands Road.

Stops not served: both stops on Tudor Road.

The number 24 bus service will also be re-routed.

Now see on line highways condition survey results

The York Council has added details of the results of its surveys of local carriageway and footpath condition to an on line map.

You can see the rating for every street in York. Red means very poor.

Click here to access.

Then click “street care” from the drop down list

Then tick the appropriate boxes e.g “Highways annual condition survey 2019 – Highways” & “Highways annual condition survey 2019 – Footpaths”

You can focus down to street level.

NB. Part of Gale Lane is being resurfaced next week.

Extract from street View on line map

Gale Lane resurfacing works from 18th November with road closure. Bus services affected

Foss Bank affected next week

City of York Council will be carrying out resurfacing works on:

  • Foss Bank from Monday 4 November between 7.30pm till 5am working Monday to Friday
  • Gale Lane from on Monday 18 November between 9.15am till 5pm working Monday to Friday

Foss Bank: In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the roundabout at Heworth Green to just past Sainsbury’s entrance will be necessary whilst works are taking place.

A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic. Buses will be diverted during working hours. The diversion for bus service 14 will be Heworth Green, Eboracum Way and Layerthorpe.

Site staff will be on hand to advise and assist residents about the access restrictions once the works are ongoing.

Any specific access requirements may be arranged by speaking to the onsite staff who will co-ordinate with residents and business requirements around ongoing construction operations.

There will be no access to Sainsbury’s from Foss Bank during the works period. However, customers will be able to access Sainsbury’s from Jewbury.

Gale Lane: A temporary road closure from the mini-roundabout at Cornlands Road to, and including, the junction of St Stephen’s Road will be necessary whilst works are taking place.

Buses will be diverted during working hours. This includes a diversion for bus service 4 – at southern end of Green Lane, turn around roundabout and return through Acomb via Green Lane, Front St, Gale Lane, resuming normal route at Cornlands Rd.

Service 24 – from Ascot Way terminus via Kingsway West, Danesford Ave, Stuart Rd, Tudor Rd, Green Lane, Front St, Gale Lane, Cornlands Rd resuming normal route halfway along Cornlands Rd.

Emergency services will be permitted through at all times. Cyclists will have to dismount and use the footways.

As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption and inconvenience to the public, however everything will be done to keep any disruption to a minimum.

For more information on roadworks in York, visit www.york.gov.uk/roadworks

For travel information and advice visit www.itravelyork.info

Road repairs – little progress by York Council

The Councils Executive committee will discuss the vexed question of highways maintenance next week.
Foxwood Lane

If there is any basic public service likely to raise public ire,  it is the number of potholes and cracks in roads and footpaths.

 The conditions simply reflect many years of under investment in maintenance work.

The new Council was elected on a manifesto which promised improvements. They quickly moved to allocate an additional £1 million budget although half of this was earmarked for new cycling and footpath projects.

School Street

The expectation was that the, all too obvious, major problems would be quickly identified and a programme agreed for repairs. Anyone reading the report will be very disappointed.  There is no refreshed list of roads that will be resurfaced this year.

Officials even plead for existing policies to continue.

Councillors have had long enough to get a list of repairs on a ward by ward basis. With only 6 months to go in the current financial year, contracts for these repairs needed to be issued quickly.

Ideally this should have been done before ice took a further toll on the vulnerable surfaces of poorly maintained surfaces.

Morrell Court

The report talks of an annual condition survey. The survey details condition of every highway. All are graded between 1 and 5 with 5 being those in worst condition. (Grade 1: very good, • Grade 2: good, • Grade 3: fair, • Grade 4: poor, • Grade 5: very poor)

Over 13,000 stretches of highway are categorised as grade 5

That is little help.

A more detailed assessment is needed if the worst roads are to be prioritised.

The list is available for download from “open data” click here It is unfortunately categorised by ward names which were superceded over 15 years ago.

Walton Place

Still we can say that streets like Foxwood Lane and School Street are amongst the worst in the City. The 50 year old potholed access roads to Spurr Court and Morrel Court are graded at 4 (poor). Footpaths in streets like Walton Place don’t even get a mention.

We hope that Councillors will ask some searching questions next week.

All is not as it should be with highway maintenance operations at the York Council.