Bus subsidies for hospital and Community Stadium services

A government subsidy of £83,000 is to be used to support to bus service links in the City

Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride – Hospital

This service has run into financial difficulties as bus patronage fell during the pandemic. The service is used by staff and patients to access the Hospital, while avoiding congestion and parking charges, in the Wigginton Road area. The subsidy only lasts until the end of March 2021 so what happens to the service after that is unclear.

Originally it was hoped that the link would reduce car usage in and near the City centre.

Community Stadium

Tonight sees what may be the first game for York City at the Community Stadium.

It will be a behind closed doors event.

With the National League North likely to be abandoned before the end of the month, it may also prove to be the last football match there until late summer.

£63,000 has been allocated for new bus service links to the stadium. Although there would be little point in introducing such links while the ban on spectators remains, they would be a welcome addition when things return to “normal”.

Hopefully the government will extend the availability of the subsidy so it can be used during the 2021/22 financial year.

The first to benefit may be York Knights fans who hope that limited attendances might be permitted during the latter part of their campaign which starts in March.

Electric vehicles? Where next in York

With the sale of new internal combustion powered cars scheduled to end in 9 years time, there is increasing pressure to extend the recharging network in York. Battery power (or maybe in the longer-term hydrogen fuel cells) will soon be the only option available.

The Councils budget does includes plans to invest over £5 million in making its own fleet all electric. It includes a £1.8 million infrastructure programme and says it is doing so to ensure that the Council is “carbon neutral” by 2030.

A report being considered today, says “a key element of the investment is to develop an electric charging infrastructure at the (Council) depot, satellite depots and home charging to ensure full charging capacity of all vehicles at all times can be met”.

In recent years, the Council has had a poor procurement record on vehicle renewal. The result has been a refuse collection fleet which, by last summer, had become chronically unreliable. They need to be more decisive, and realistic about delivery timescales, in the future.

The Council has already announced plans for a “HyperHubs” project to provide “next generation electric vehicle charging infrastructure at Monks Cross and Poppleton Bar Park & Ride sites”. The Monks Cross HyperHub is due to be completed by April 2021 and will include the first Ultra Rapid chargers in the City.

The Council says that design work is continuing for a third City Centre HyperHub following the decision to move the site from York Hospital “which had insurmountable access issues”. The hub is due to open in the autumn of 2021, although details of the location have not been released.

One possible site is the Piccadilly multi storey car park which has been under-used since the Council switched off the advance car park space availability systems 8 years ago. If it were designated for electric vehicles it might be possible to reopen the tunnel link from the nearby Castle Car park.

One of the ongoing issues to be addressed with charging bays is their reliability and occupancy limits. Recharging to 80% capacity takes about 30 minutes on most new electric cars. When charged up, the vehicle owner must return to the vehicle and free up the space for other users.

Home charging on the other hand is more convenient and can take place overnight if a £400 home box is fitted. That option is not available for those who park on the street.

The Council will spend another £550,000 next year in renewing lampposts. As part of the programme LED fittings will be used. These reduce power use. This offers the opportunity for recharging sockets to be included in the specification.

*The Council want to ban cars from York City centre*

No such proposals have been made in York although the lamppost charging option is available in parts of London, while Oxford is trialling the provision of ducted access to adjacent properties where off street parking is impossible.

Access to lamppost sockets is available for only a limited time so, where streets have a parking deficit already, reserving parking bays for charging will only exacerbate the problems.

There is little sign of Councillors addressing these issues.

Instead many have simply said they oppose the use of personal transport in the urban area however the vehicles may be fueled.

Council to borrow over £20 million more.

The York Council will consider tomorrow adding over £20 million to its debt burden.

The cost to taxpayers of paying interest and redemption charges on the extra borrowing is put at £1.4 million a year.

The Council says that the costs of the new Knapton forest will now be met from “external sources”. It is therefore switching that expenditure into buying electric vehicles and associated charging facilities at a cost of over £5 million.

*The Knapton Forest will now be funded by third parties according to the York Council*

£100,000 will fund an “access barrier review”. This is thought to be a response to a section of the cycle lobby which is opposed to the use of safety barriers where they slow cycle movements. While an audit of infrastructure standards and repair works on the York cycle network is long overdue, concentration of limited resources on the relatively trivial barrier issue reflects poor prioritisation.

£1.1 million will be spent repairing Lendal Bridge while £1 million is reserved for the – more than slightly opaque – “COVID recovery fund”.

Probably the most controversial proposal is the plan to cut another £3.2 million from highways maintenance. This is the fund which is used to reconstruct road and path surfaces. It is a long-term investment which gives carriageways a 30 year plus lifespan. In turn this minimises the risk of frost damage. The large number of potholes which we have seen on the highway network recently suggests reconstruction should be a high priority.

*All parties promised improved highway maintenance standards at the last local elections*

. The cut in the highways maintenance budget is partly justified by officials who point to the £5 million being paid by central government for the resurfacing of Tadcaster Road (for the second time in less than a year). The resurfacing will not provide any additional benefit for road users.

Money is being transferred from highways resurfacing to fund the Council’s £2 million contribution to the Fordlands Road flood alleviation scheme. This is the scheme which should have been completed, and funded, as part of the recent improvements to the A19 in Fulford.

The report points out that there could still be further costs to be added to the budget as work on York Central, the Guildhall, Castle Gateway and dualling the outer ring road proceeds.

A copy of the proposed programme can be viewed by clicking here

Transport plan for Lowfields

As reported below, a transport plan for the new Lowfields development has now been published.

Travel Plan extract and parking space layout on new development

In many ways, it is unexceptional.

A commentary on the proposals can be found on the Lowfields residents web site. https://www.facebook.com/LowfieldsActionGroup/posts/1905016099639770

One of the major issues with the development is the length of time that builders will be on the site (and adjacent roads). Residents were assured that 3 years would be the maximum.

That now looks to be very optimistic.

Nothing more has been heard of the Communal housing scheme (Yorspace). It is not even clear whether they have completed the purchase of their plot.

The Council itself is only now seeking tenders for the sheltered elderly persons accommodation. So that element is effectively 18 months behind schedule.

And, of course, there is still no word on the promised community facilities. Residents were delays rightly sceptical about whether the Health Centre and police station would ever materilise. It seems increasingly unlikely that they ever will.

It is significant that the Councils latest capital budget update report makes no direct reference to Lowfields. It simply shows that, of the total £24 million cost of building the houses, £16.5 million will be spent before then end of March 2021.

We think this is highly unlikely.

Railway station transformation gets go ahead

Work can begin this Autumn to create a fitting gateway to York after plans to transform the railway station entrance planning committee approved.

The plans to modernise the arrival to the station include removing Queen Street bridge, which hasn’t been needed since trains stopped passing under it in the 1960s. Removing the bridge will create space for vastly improved access for all modes of transport while revealing hidden sections of the city’s historic walls.

The scheme has been developed by the Council in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Network Rail and LNER.

The plans will change and improve the entrance to the railway station in order to:

keep vehicles and pedestrians apart
make it easier to change between modes of transport
create new public spaces and a more pedestrian-friendly experience
create an improved setting for the City Walls and other heritage buildings in the area

(more…)

Real time bus information reaches suburbs

Pleased to see that information screens, which indicate when the next bus will arrive, have finally reached Westfield.

They are common in other parts of the City

A screen has recently been installed at a stop on Tudor Road.

We hope that the programme will soon extend to cover busy stops like the ones on Green Lane and Foxwood Lane.

Still its some progress at a time when public transport services are facing huge pressures as a result of the pandemic

York Council taxpayers face £600,000 bill for “emergency” transport changes

It looks like the government’s announcement in November of a £600,000 grant for cycling and walking in York has strings attached. A “matching” amount is required from local taxpayers.

The York Council had bid for a share of what was termed an “Emergency Active Travel Fund”.

It was originally designed to promote social distancing and reduce pressure on public transport. Early examples if the kind of scheme supported by the York Council included the controversial Bishopthorpe Road one way system (since abandoned) and The Groves Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme. Several foot streets were also extended.

Now the government (rightly) says greater weight should be given to consultation, with Local Authorities required to publish a consultation plan for their programmes by 11th December 2020. Details of York’s Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 application and the Consultation Plan are available as downloads at: https://www.york.gov.uk/lets-york/active-travel-bid/1

The costs of the individual schemes have now been revealed.

The most expensive is the proposal to construct a cycle path from Wheldrake village to Heslington.

This comes in at an eye watering £550,000.

There has still not been any attempt made to estimate the likely use of such a path although the Councils origin and destination surveys make a cost/benefit analysis relatively easy to produce.

Ironically, this project does not even appear in the list of cycling schemes that the Council has built up over the years. This is reproduced in a report being considered later this week. (click).

At least that list attempts to assess what impact the investment would have on transport choices. The top-rated improvement locations are

University Road / Field Lane
University of York – Heslington East Campus links
High Petergate, Deangate, Aldwark, Hungate, Navigation Rd, Walmgate (or Low Petergate, Colliergate, Fossgate, Walmgate)
St Leonards Place / Museum Street / Lendal Bridge / Station Road
Micklegate / Bridge Street / Nessgate / Coppergate / Pavement / Stonebow / Peasholme Green
Improvements to Station Road / Station Avenue gyratory
Route through former British Sugar site
Castle Gateway Foss Bridge
York Central – link from Chancery Rise
Bar Lane / Toft Green / Tanner Row

The Council is being urged to develop a new “walking and cycling strategy”. Certainly, those who walk will feel somewhat neglected by current York Council policies. Even more so when they see the lack of progress being made on determining 19 outstanding Public Right of Way applications. Some have been outstanding for over 20 years.

The main issue remains a lack of investment in maintaining the existing transport network.

The endless pressure to borrow more money simply sucks resources from the Councils maintenance budget. The results are deteriorating cycle and footpath surfaces coupled with potholed highway margins.

This neglect poses an increasing hazard for pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.

“e-bikes” to be added to York e-scooter trial?

The trial of e-scooters has been operating in York since the 12th October.

According to a Council report, “the e-scooters are being introduced in a phased approach, gradually increasing the service area and number of e-scooters available.

This has split the city broadly into 5 sectors. Currently e-scooters are available in Sector 1 and 2, which includes e-scooter provision at the University of York, York Hospital, York St John’s University, and city centre locations.

In the first six weeks of the trial, 10 parking locations were available for scooters with 116 e-scooters available for hire.

Over the first six weeks of the trial, 3,822 trips were taken, with a total of 25,012km travelled on e-scooters. During this period, no incidences (collisions) were reported”.

The report says, “other local authority areas participating in the trial have noted an increase in use of private e-scooters which remain illegal to ride on the public highway. Whilst their use has not been as prevalent in York, as the trial continues we may see a similar increase in use of private e scooters”.

The organisers of the scheme (TIER) now want to expand the scooter numbers to 700 and add in some electric bikes.

The rental of e-bikes would follow the same model as for e-scooters, with riders unlocking and paying for usage via a mobile phone app. In line with government regulation, the maximum speed-assist of the e-bikes would be 15.5mph, with the power not exceeding 250 watts. Geo-fencing technology would be used to ensure a user cannot end their trip outside of designated parking locations and will continue the hire cost if left outside of these locations.

Pricing for e-bikes would be at the same cost as e-scooters, with £1 to unlock and £0.15 per minute to ride. (Thus a 20 minute ride from Acomb to the City centre would cost more than the equivalent bus fare)

Communal use transport, of course, presents its own issues during the pandemic.

The proposal is to expand use as follows;

Sector 3 to include Clifton and Rawcliffe in January;

· Sector 4 to include Southbank and Heworth in February;

· Sector 5 to expand to the rest of the city from March 2021.

A meeting next week will decide whether to agree to expand the number of e-scooters available to 700. It is unclear how many e-bikes might be deployed.

There have been many previous attempts made to establish casual bike hire services in York. None have been successful, possibly because of the compact nature of the City which makes walking a viable option for many “journeys”.

“Unsafe” Groves traffic scheme set to drag on

One of the consequences of the City moving into Tier 4 restrictions, as it is expected to do following an announcement tomorrow, may be that progress on some traffic schemes will be delayed.

This could affect The Groves traffic restrictions which were introduced using a temporary (experimental) traffic order last summer. The expectation was that a decision would be made early in 2021 about whether – and with which features – the scheme would be made permanent (or abandoned). However, further restrictions on movement, because of the pandemic, could mean that no stable traffic pattern will be established until well into 2021.

One of the criticisms of the scheme, which was rushed into operation following a meeting last June, was that the area had already become largely devoid of through traffic as a result of changes in the local economy.

Safety concerns remain.

The Council, in response to a Freedom of Information request in October, said, “Stage 1 and Stage 2 Road Safety Audits were not undertaken for this scheme due to its experimental nature. The project team discussed the design with road safety officers to get their input as the scheme was developed.
Once the initial adjustments to the scheme are completed, a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit will be undertaken”.

The adjustments were made some months ago but there is still no sign of the promised safety audit.

As well as obvious concerns, such as unmarked contra flow cycle routes, there are other issues to be addressed.

Not least of these, is access for emergency vehicles. Moveable bollards are promised as an option if the scheme becomes permanent but any decision on that is fading into the distance.

The high level of demand for ambulance services, as the pandemic tightens its grip, means revised arrangements are needed sooner rather than later.

One concerned resident has now written to the Council detailing several safety failings on the existing scheme. Issues highlighted include a requirement for all traffic exiting Penley’s Grove Street to turn left and use the Monk Bridge roundabout to complete a U-turn. An unnecessarily dangerous manoeuvre for cyclists (who may well be tempted to ignore the restriction).

In total, the resident has identified over a dozen locations where the provided signs do not meet current national regulation standards or where ad hoc bits of street furniture represent potential hazards for users.

Hopefully, 2021 will bring a more measured approach to changes to the City’s transport systems.

Consultation begins on green corridor works near cycle path

Sustrans, who manage the York – Selby cycle path, are consulting on the work that they they hope to undertake on the trees and bushes which are adjacent to the path.

Already some work has started on removing invasive and self seeded trees the roots of which have damaged the adjacent cycle path.

*Work has already started next to the track near Riccall.*

The consultation takes a deeper look at the future of the green corridor.

Invasive Himalayan balsam would be removed while an effort would be made to introduce tansy into the grassland sward to support the tansy
beetle.

Near Bishopthorpe, some fruit trees may be planted.

*The consultation closes on 1st January* 2021

We think that most cycle path users will welcome this initiative from Sustrans.

We only hope that repairs to the surface of the cycle path will start quickly now.

Too many sections of the route have been made hazardous by root damage.

No news yet on when the promised improvements, to the York Council maintained section of the cycle path between Tadcaster Road and the A64, will start. Improvements were promised as part of the plan to provide a new clubhouse and pitches for Bishopthorpe FC.

The clubhouses itself – although currently mired in mud – is making progress but no start date for the promised path upgrade has been given.

*Building works near Sim Balk Lane* *started over 12 months ago.*

This section of track is also now subject to tree root damage.

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