Lendal Bridge – what Labour were going to say before their U turn

York Council plans for use of fine income click to enlarge

York Council plans for use of fine income click to enlarge

Details of a draft report on the future of the Lendal Bridge traffic restrictions, which was written before the scheme was abandoned, reveal that Labour had intended to continue with the restrictions.

The report was substantially rewritten when it became clear that the Council had been acting unlawfully in fining over 50,000 motorists who had travelled over the bridge during restricted hours. To make that decision, the Council used an arcane interpretation of its own constitution claiming that the Council Leader “could take any decision which would normally be taken by the Cabinet“.

It is clear from the report that key background information was still not available when the Leader took his decision on 8th April.

Although draft reports are often re-written to improve clarity before they are published, there are some glaring differences and omissions from the report being considered by the Cabinet later today (Tuesday).

Reinvigorate York

The original draft claimed that

“de-trafficking of Lendal Bridge and environs also allows buses to be removed from Exhibition Square and makes it easier to deliver the Reinvigorate York scheme there”. In arguing in favour of the restrictions being made permanent the draft report goes on to say,”

The Reinvigorate York schemes proposed for Exhibition Square and Duncombe Place would be limited in scope, reducing the ability to make significant enhancements to the public realm or attract additional footfall to the city centre. Other transport aspirations could also be curtailed, in particular options for, and the operation of, a public transport interchange at the station and the ability to provide journey time and reliability improvements for public transport”.

The final report fails to mention any dependence the “reinvigorate” programme might have on the Lendal Bridge scheme.

Congestion

The final report plays down the effect that the closure has had on traffic congestion.

The original draft admitted, “During the Lendal Bridge trial additional delay and congestion has been experienced at the Water End junction. Analysis of the TrafficMaster data has identified that during the 4pm – 5pm period some journeys can experience significant extra delay”.

The draft implies criticism of the timing of the trial saying that the A59 road works had made congestion worse. The premature timing of the trail was a criticism made by many residents a year ago.

The draft report in admitting major congestion issues at Water End suggests changes to traffic signals at Salisbury Terrace. “Longer term measures are being investigated should the completion of the A59/A1237 road works not resolve the traffic issues in this location. (Cabinet Member briefing note is available and with alteration could be provided as an annex)”.

No annex was provided in the final report.

Visitor Numbers

The draft report said, “Since 2010 there has been a downward trend in footfall in the city centre, approximately 11% reduction in annual total 2010-2013 (as measured in Parliament St)”. The report was annotated to say “What is happening nationally? City centre/out of town?”

No such information is provided in the final report

Also omitted from the final report, but included in the draft, was the comment

For most of the trial the number of PCNs being issued has remained at a relatively constant level, rather than reduce and plateau as predicted”

Costs

One of the most telling sections of the draft report (and not included in the public version) was an analysis of the increased costs that the trial had accumulated during its 7 month period of operation.

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Free car parking – Labour plans DID NOT have business support.

parking-charges-car-park-ticket-machine-149887544

Proposals to introduce free parking at some City centre car parks were agreed by the Labour Cabinet last week.

The “free parking” plan covers the period between 8:00am and 11:00am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Only a limited number of car parks will benefit from the change.

The plan has been heavily criticised as it will encourage more traffic onto the highways network between 8:00am and 9:00am when congestion is at its worst.

Labour claimed that the plan was the result of a proposal from businesses in the City

…..but we can reveal that was not the case.

In their original plan businesses wanted free parking to operate between 9:00am (when most shops open) and 11:00am.

They did favour the concession being available between Thursday and Saturday but wanted it to apply to all car parks.

Pay on Exit” would also have been introduced at the Castle car park as well as at Marygate.

It appears that Labour spokespeople have been economical with the truth again and face a grilling when the proposal – which has been “called in” for further consideration – is discussed.

There is a “calling in “ meeting scheduled to take place on  12th May 2014 to discuss the Council’s latest Local Plan proposals.

So far, the “Free Parking” issue has not been added to that agenda, suggesting that the Labour Councillors are now desperately casting around for figures to support their perverse decision.

Catch the Bus Week: New timetables to be rolled out city wide

 bus-stop1

Bus users will be able to ‘catch the bus’ from this week using a new-look bus timetable, as part of a city wide makeover to improve bus services and waiting facilities in and around York.

New-look timetables will be installed at all stops throughout the city during this week’s Catch the Bus Week (28 April – 4 May) a national campaign lead by Green Journeys.

Following a successful two-month trial along the Hull Road to Dunnington route (number 10 service) last year the new timetables provide a much more accessible format for bus users, compared to the existing timetables which are currently provided by both the council and individual operators in a variety of different designs, shapes and sizes.

The roll out is funded through part of the £3.5 million government Better Bus Area Fund awarded by the coalition government to York  in 2012.

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Scale of Council’s Lendal bridge confusion revealed

Council’s legal costs total £6,900 and rising

A freedom of Information request has revealed that the amount of money spent on legal advice in connection with Lendal Bridge, following a recent adjudicator decision, is £6,900 and rising.

This is in addition to the £350,000 in capital and running cost already incurred by the Council.

Originally the Council said that the trial would cost less than £100,000 (and be paid for by appropriating monies provided by central government for improvements to public transport in the City)

If the fine income has to be repaid to drivers, then the costs of the trial will become a heavy burden on York Council Taxpayers

Lendal Bridge sign

Meanwhile the long awaited analysis of the successes and failures of the Lendal Bridge trial has been published.

The absence of the report was used by Labour at the last Council meeting on 27th March to avoid making an early decision on scrapping the restrictions. Labour subsequently wilted under sustained criticism from residents when it became clearly that nearly £2 million in fines income (Coppergate and Lendal Bridge combined) had been levied unlawfully.

It is the appeal against the adjudicator’s decision on the latter which has led to escalating legal costs.

The report makes it clear that the imperative for bringing forward the Lendal Bridge access restrictions from 2025 – the target date included in the current Local Transport Plan (LTP3) – was the Labour Councils proposal to increase the size of the City by 25% over the next 15 years. Most commentators have already condemned such growth as irresponsible with likely catastrophic consequences for the environment in general and transport systems in particular. The report says that such growth would lead to a 41% increase in traffic across the City.

The main objectives of the trial were always unclear. They are now retrospectively claimed to be to

  • reduce congestion in the city centre and on the route between the Station and Gillygate/Clarence Street in particular;
  • create a bus corridor that provides improvements in bus reliability and journey times, thus encouraging greater use of public transport and
  • Improve the public realm at the north end of the city centre by reducing the impact of traffic.

Even with benefit of hindsight, and manipulating data to fit a required outcome, the trial fails 2 of these 3 criteria. There was less traffic on Lendal Bridge but overall the number of car journeys was the same, congestion (which is not high between 10:30am and 5:00pm anyway) simply transferred to other roads and emissions impacted on the air quality at different locations – it did not reduce.Over 70% of respondents to the Council surveys felt that the restrictions had adversely affected them. This compares to 79% who responded to surveys in west York saying that the Lendal Bridge trial had not been successful.

Objective Council verdict The reality
Accommodation Occupancy Levels in City Increase Hotels – not affected by the trial have also shown increased use. It is linked to an improving economy, good weather and special events held in the City. It has not been influenced by the Lendal bridge restrictions. York hotelier groups were opposed to the restrictions
Footfall (Parliament Street) Increase Footfall in Parliament Street showed a substantial fall in the early part of the trial. It recovered in the run up to Christmas. Again it reflects changing economic times. Many retailers report lower sales over the 6 month trial period. The longer term reputational damage caused by the high level of fines has yet to be felt by the City.
Parking in City Centre Car Parks Static The council is forecasting that it will have a lower income from car parking in 2013/14 than it budgeted for.
Citywide Traffic Counts Static The same amount of traffic, just using different routes.
Journey Times Increases/Decreases In the main, the mileage covered – and subsequent longer journey times for those who otherwise would have used Lendal Bridge – were significantly higher. The Council have failed to analyse this cost.
Bus Journey Times Increases/Decreases The report fails to list the journey time and passenger number impacts on a route by route basis. Without that information, no conclusions on public transport can be drawn. The Council has failed to isolate cause and effect. If bus patronage is up 7% how much of that is down to economic factors, how much to the fare/routes changes introduced in September etc.?

The data reveals that between September and December 2013 there were 2 serious accidents on Lendal Bridge (compared to none during the same period in the previous year).

The number of “slight” accidents did however reduce.

So where now?

Labour are promoting an all party “traffic congestion Commission”. Apparently to be independently chaired, the body would be doomed before it started if it was asked to provide transport solutions for the journey demands that would be generated by a 25% increase in the City’s size.

That is mission impossible.

It is made worse by the Labour Councils reliance on the development of Green Belt land – which generally has poorer public transport options than the brownfield alternative which is closer to the City centre.

The real choice will be for residents to make at the 2015 Council elections.

The Liberal Democrats will be offering a policy of sustainable growth.

It remains to be seen what other options are tabled.

York footpath and road resurfacing programme – supplementary list finally published

The York Council has finally published the list of streets that will be repaired from its supplementary funding programme this year.

The programme restores investment to the level that was being achieved by the Liberal Democrat led Council in 2011.

Streets in the Westfield ward which will receive attention this year are:

  •  Fir Heath Close £5,350 (Footway)
  •  Huntsmans Walk (part) £43,000 (Footway)
  •  Tudor Road (part) £4,200 (Footway)
  •  Vesper Drive £24,000 (Carriageway)
  •  Front Street / Green Lane (part) £282,000 (Carriageway)

This is in addition to the roads scheduled in December for repair.

Footpath Green Lane (Part) £10,750
Footpath Wetherby Road (Part) £15,000
Footpath Cornlands Road (Part) £24,000

Click here to download the complete supplementary list

The list should be read in conjunction with the base programme of works which was published in December.

 

More traffic light failures

Press 17th Oct traffic lights

As we reported 6 months ago the reliability of traffic signals in York has plummeted in the last couple of years.

The Council have not yet published a root cause analysis of the failures which – today – again brought traffic chaos to the City centre.

Signals on the Fishergate loop were responsible for the problems.

Its about time the Council got to the bottom of these problems.

Government gives York additional £100,000 towards transport improvements

sectors_transport

City of York Council has been awarded an additional £100,000 from the Department of Transport, towards the city’s i-Travel York initiative.

Many residents will hope that the funding is used to repair faulty “real time” information systems indicating the Variable Message Signs on the City’s arterial routes as well as the car park availability information which has disappeared from the Council’s web site.

One of only nine local authorities to receive the funding, York successfully won the financial backing following a bid in November 2013 to deliver the government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund project ).

This council’s i-Travel York initiative was launched in 2011, made possible by £4.6 million of government funding which the council successfully bid for in 2011.

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Signs still say Lendal Bridge is closed

Lendal Bridge restriction sign on Holgate Road 19th April 2014

Lendal Bridge restriction sign on Holgate Road 19th April 2014


In what is usually one of the busiest weekends of the year, some Council signs are still saying that restrictions apply on Lendal Bridge.

The Council has said that the decision to revoke the traffic order, which underpins the restrictions on the bridge, must be ratified by the Cabinet when it meets on 6th May.

In the meantime, the Council should either remove or cover up all the enforcement signs to avoid confusion

Cheap bus travel in York for 11 – 18 year olds

YOzone

With a YOzone card you can travel on many buses within the York area at a reduced fare. In addition to this, you will be entitled to lots of great discounts from retailers throughout the York area.

YOzone 11-16 card

The YOzone 11-16 card is available free to any young person currently in secondary education (up to the age of 16) who lives or studies in the City of York Council area. Cards are valid until 31st August after your 16th birthday.

YOzone 16-18 card

The new YOzone 16-18 card is available free to any young person aged 16-18 who lives or studies in the City of York Council area.

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