Other infrastructure, planting and construction
Millennium Green and Water End
The most controversial aspect is likely to remain the continued use of the Leeman Road (Marble Arch) tunnel for general traffic and cyclists. The proposers persist with the idea of reducing the carriageway to one – signal controlled – lane with cyclists using the other lane. They seem blithely unaware that neither the carriageway or pedestrian sections of the tunnel have a waterproof membrane. Quite simply pedestrians and cyclists will continue to face – in wet weather – an unpleasant introduction to what had been billed as a 21st century experience. Lack of forethought means that any link onto the Scarborough cycle bridge will also be awkward.
Marble Arch tunnel transport layout
There are few surprises in the rest of the package although those cycling from Wilton Rise might have hoped for more details of an alternative route to the existing archaic footbridge.
What to expect according to the Council
The Council has published the following media release, having leaked it to the commercial media over the weekend.
“City of York Council says it has unveiled proposals for the access routes which enable the York Central partnership to unlock the jobs, homes and public spaces developed through the award-winning Masterplan.
The council is working in partnership with Network Rail, Homes England and the National Railway Museum to develop proposals to regenerate the 45 hectare-site – one of the largest brownfield sites in the UK.
As the largest landowners, Network Rail and Homes England secured outline planning permission in 2019. This established the principles of the regeneration, creating up to 2500 homes, an estimated 6500 jobs, and a range of public spaces, including the city’s first new park in a century.
Each partner will now develop detailed ‘Reserved Matters’ planning applications covering different parts of the scheme. The council has prepared the first of these, in line with the outline planning application, as it is responsible for the funding and delivery of the essential infrastructure. Homes England and Network Rail are responsible for future applications for housing and employment space.
The first Reserved Matters application proposals include:
- New access routes throughout the site, including 1.85km (1.1m) of segregated cycle and pedestrians pathways;
- A new 3.5m wide bus lane on Cinder Street, and routes for two park and ride services to run through the site;
- A new bridge in weathering steel – the material used on the new Scarborough Bridge foot and cycleway – across the east coast mainline;
- A new 4m shared pedestrian and cycle bridge added to the Water End bridge;
- New streets and access points, including Leeman Road Spur, change to Leeman Road tunnel and Marble Arch;
- A replacement rail link which will be used by the National Railway Museum;
- Mature tree planting along the routes, new pathways and landscaping through Millennium Green”.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:
“York Central has enormous potential to deliver a wide-range of benefits to the city, including new homes, new jobs and new sustainable transport links in the heart of the city.”
“Together with our partners, we have placed public engagement at the centre of our proposals to provide the homes, jobs and public spaces which the city needs. We are sharing these plans to demonstrate how we have responded to what residents have been telling us, particularly with regards to pedestrian, cycle and bus routes.”
“I would strongly encourage everyone to look and engage with these proposals, as it is incredibly important to us that the York Central development happens and works to the benefit of everyone in the city.”
People can see the proposals from Monday 24 February in several ways:
On-line at www.yorkcentral.info