“Traffic congestion in York getting worse” – residents. Costs put at £491 per household

Congestion cartoon 2

Every respondent, to the survey that we are undertaking in parts of the Hob Moor and Dringhouses areas, has so far said that traffic congestion in York has got worse in recent months.

Delays of the type experienced during the “rush hours” have now become commonplace at other times of the day.

The sudden deterioration has been put down to a series of factors.

The decision to close Lendal Bridge to private traffic, while at the same time undertaking extensive road works on the A1237 northern by pass, is blamed by many.

Unreliable traffic signals, burst water mains and a population less willing to use bus services, have added to the problems.

The Council’s ridiculously titled campaign to “Get York Moving” lies in tatters with a report to a Cabinet meeting earlier in the month lacking any information on traffic volumes or congestion delays.

Nationally according to a recent report, close to £426m is being wasted on fuel alone due to traffic hold ups, which means each of the 8.2 million commuting drivers in the country have to bear a fuel cost of £52.

INRIX, an international provider of traffic information and intelligent driver services, together with Cebr, has revealed that congestion on roads costs around £491 per car-commuting household.

The other direct cost is wastage of time, with the average cost of time wasted in gridlock per traveller £331, which results in a total national time cost of £2.7bn.

New Askham Bar P&R site: night works

Askham Bar (Tadcaster Road) roadworks

Askham Bar (Tadcaster Road) roadworks

Working in partnership with Balfour Beatty, City of York Council will be carrying out night works for the revised junction at the new Askham Bar Park & Ride site from next week.

A series of night-time closures will be in place from Monday 18 November until Thursday 28 November on the inbound and outbound carriageways along the A1036 from the A64 to Sim Balk Lane.

The carriageway will be closed from 9pm and will be re-opened at 6am. The closures will not take place on the evenings of Saturday 23 November and Sunday 24 November.

Alternative diversion routes will be in place and signed. Access to the Esso Petrol Station will be maintained at all times from the York side of the junction.
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Lendal Bridge – why no update?

Residents searching the Councils web site for the promised monthly update on the Lendal Bridge trial will be disappointed.

Lendal Bridge closure Nov 2013

Only the September report is available and that is not easy to find.

With footfall down, traders complaining and day time traffic congestion elsewhere in the City at record levels there is a suspicion that data is being “cleansed” before being released into the gaze of Council Taxpayers.

Concern has also been expressed about the speed of some vehicles using the bridge.

As expected, traffic levels are lower now and some drivers are accelerating to the 30 mph speed limit while some visitors are treating the area as an extension to the pedestrian zone.

The Councils evaluation criteria pointedly fails to identify accident levels as one of the statistics for post closure comparison.

The Council would be wise to deploy its 20 mph speed limit signs into this part of the City rather then inflict them on an unwilling population in west York.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats in west York have started a survey aimed at finding out whether York residents want the trial closure to continue.

Very early results suggest that the majority of residents want the restrictions to be removed.

More behind closed doors decisions made in York

The York Council has made several decisions about new parking restrictions in the Guildhall and Clifton wards. In summary they are:

Behind closed doors logo

Newborough Street

Approved the advertising of No Waiting at any Time Restrictions and identified space for a Car Club vehicle in Newborough Street (Clifton Ward). Click for more details

Gladstone Street/ Dennison Street

click for map

click for map

“No Waiting at any Time Restriction” on Gladstone Street and Dennison Street to prevent obstructive parking taking place on footways, as well as inconsiderate parking which blocks the entrance to the play area and private driveway access. .

The issue related to parking conflicts since new homes were built on the Minster Engineering site. The Council required only 1 parking space per property but this has proved to be inadequate with parking being forced onto pavements and neighbouring streets

Council agreed to overturn the objections made to a proposed amendment to the Traffic Regulation Order located within Guildhall Ward and implement restrictions as advertised. click for more details

Air quality improving in York ……but

The Council has published its latest data on air quality in York.

The main contaminant – and potential source of health issues – NO2 is reducing overall. However individual street level figures have not been released nor are up to date figures included on the dedicated air quality web site

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The improvement is put down to the increasing number of low emission vehicles being used on York’s roads.

The Council has been encouraging the transfer to low emission cars since 2003 when parking discounts for small vehicles were introduced (ResPark).

This was followed up in 2010 by the trial use of electric and hybrid buses on some routes in the City.

More recently the coalition government has made funding available for the purchase of “all electric” buses. These will be introduced over the next couple of years.

However the fly in the ointment is the recent change to access arrangements in the City centre. The Lendal Bridge trial is already adding significant amounts of traffic onto routes which already have an air quality issue.

Principle amongst these are Leeman Road and Fulford Road.

While Bootham and Gillygate (traditionally a problem street) have also seen changes.

The Council have so far failed to update their initial trial data report on the closure

Even that made no objective assessment of the closure on pollution levels.

New safety measures for busy Monks Cross road

click for full scale plan

click for full scale plan

City of York Council is set to introduce a new cycle lane and crossing point on a busy route leading to one of York’s top retail and business destinations.

A new cycle/pedestrian route and toucan crossing point will be installed along part of Jockey Lane, leading to Monks Cross.

The scheme is part of a wider initiative to provide a continuous pedestrian/cycle route from York Business Park at Poppleton, to eventually link the route with the retail outlet at Monks Cross and taking in Clifton Moor and residential areas of Rawcliffe, New Earswick, and Huntington by creating an ‘Outer Orbital Route’ for pedestrians and cyclists.

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Gridlock forces Lendal Bridge and Coppergate re-opening

Burst water main in York today

Burst water main in York today

As had been forecast, gridlock on the inner ring road forced the Council today to reopen Lendal Bridge and Coppergate to general traffic.

However it wasn’t a major accident on the trunk road network or very bad weather that prompted the Council to remove the restrictions.

A burst water main in the Piccadilly area was to blame.

The Council agreed to waive access restrictions on both Coppergate and Lendal Bridge.

However their decision came at lunch time and was too late to help the hundreds of drivers that had been caught up in the jams during the previous 2 hours.

The traffic restrictions are likely to be re-imposed tomorrow.

June completion for A59 Park and Ride works.

Poppleton Bar Roadworks

Poppleton Bar Roadworks

It could be June 2014 before the A59 Park and Ride site near Poppleton opens.

The Tour de France is due to go through the junction on 6th July.

The work was initially held up because of delays in re-routing underground services

Askham Bar (Tadcaster Road) roadworks

Askham Bar (Tadcaster Road) roadworks


The first main traffic management change has just been brought into operation to enable commencement of the subway construction.

The junction changes at Askham Bar will be completed in December with the main site opening in May 2014.

Both opening dates could be delayed if we have a bad winter.

A1237 to become Toll road

A1237

The Council has announced that the A1237 northern by pass is to become a toll road

Motorists will have to purchase a “pay and display” ticket as happens in other car parks.

The move has been made possible by increased congestion caused by road works and the closure of Lendal Bridge.

Mr I. B. Stuck commented that he hoped that a “pay by phone” option would be made available before his newly ordered camper van was delivered, by air, to the lay-by near Tesco.

“I’m looking forward to my holiday overlooking the River Ouse but I don’t want to have to get out to buy another ticket every time a wheel turns”.

Council transport statistics click to enlarge

Council transport statistics click to enlarge

A Council spokesman said it was likely that Mr Stuck would remain stuck at least until the new A59 Park and Ride site opened in the spring.

The Council hopes to extend its pay and display scheme to cover the Hull Road, Fulford Road and Foss Islands Road all of which the spokesman described as “having potential”.

NB. The latest Council report on congestion levels has been published. Well actually it hasn’t. We are told that the figures for traffic volumes are being “cleansed” but will be available “towards the end of October”.

Today is the 1st November.

20 mph speed limits signs being put up?

The Councils £600,000 scheme to put up 20 mph speed limit signs across west York will apparently start this weekend.

20 mph

Had the signs gone up before mischief night we doubt many would have survived for long!

The scheme is being introduced in the face of fierce opposition from the majority of residents.

In the Acomb, Westfield and Woodthorpe areas surveys showed 80% opposed the plan with costs and the ineffectiveness of putting signs, on streets where average speeds are already below 20 mph, being cited as the main concerns.

The Council are desperately trying to convert public opinion by selectively quoting the Police and “local head teachers” as supporting the change. Both the Police and “head teachers” also have responsibilities to taxpayers.

Ironically all the schools in west York already have a 20 mph speed limit outside their entrances – and have had for many years.

speed and accident record of streets in west York click to download

speed and accident record of streets in west York click to download

They might also look at the statistical data – suppressed by the Council during their consultation period – which can be downloaded here.

It revealed that most roads, that will get new 20 mph limits, have had no recorded accidents at all.

The bulk of accidents, in the York area, occur on the main arterial and trunk roads (which will continue with their current speed limits).

A couple of months ago the Council admitted that in other City’s (Portsmouth and Bristol) the number of accidents taking place in wide 20 mph limit area, had actually increased since the speed limits were reduced.

Even the hitherto responsible Benendon Healthcare organisation (where a Labour Councillor is in charge of public relations) appears to have been been taken in by the propaganda with their Chief Executive quoted as saying that it will improve safety.

Not for those living in Bristol and Portsmouth it didn’t.

The Council’s response is to use taxpayers money to pay for a video which is probably the most patronising piece of propaganda that you will see.

Numbers killed and seriously injured in York click to access source data

Numbers killed and seriously injured in York click to access source data

The last set of accident statistics for York roads, up to the end of 2012, have recently been published.

They reveal that those killed and seriously injured on our roads have fallen to an all time low.

This is the result of targeted accident reduction work the funding for which is being cut to pay for the 20 mph signs.

The figures for 2013 will be the last where most of the year reflected this priority. The 2014 figures should be published just a few days before the next local elections taken place (May 2015)

We hope that York residents’ will continue to drive at a safe speed taking into account all road conditions.