Yesterday we revealed that the Council had started consultation on changes to the pedestrian/cycle route from the railway station to Bootham.
We pointed out that the impact on the Marygate car park had not been explained in the Councils documents.
We are now led to understand that a drawing, which details what will happen at the car park, was for some reason omitted from the consultation papers. It has now been added (click)
This new layout apparently requires virtually all the spaces in the car park to be re-marked.
Officials claim that, overall, 6 spaces will be lost.
The Railway Walk path would be widened to 3.4 metres.
The 40 spaces currently coned off would be restored for parking use.
There may be access, turning radius and other implications for users which are not clear from the large scale map provided, so we will hope that residents will be given sight of the stage 1 and 2 safety audit reports.
It is still unclear why the Council launched this consultationwithout telling anyone how to participate.
The Council has started an “on line” consultation about the changes that they plan to make to the pedestrian/cycle route which links Scarborough Bridge to St Mary’s, Bootham and beyond.
Unfortunately very few people know about the plans or the consultation.
The background information glosses over the future of the Marygate car park.
The main area of concern relates to the possible permanent loss of parking spaces in the car park. The car park has been very popular with visitors and shoppers over recent months. It is vital for the City centre economy.
Unfortunately around 40 spaces at the car park have been unusable since the York Council coned them off in June.
Marygate car park full but empty spaces coned off by Council
The consultation document says “Marygate car park will be relined to enable a modest widening of Railway Walk”
It doesn’t say how many spaces will be lost.
There is no opportunity given on the survey to support or oppose individual sections of the proposal. Instead only narrative comments are invited.
It will be impossible to quantify these, so the final decision on the scheme will rest with one York Executive Councillor (Cllr D’Agorne)
Other aspects of the plans are likely to be less controversial.
These include
Construction of a shared-use, low gradient, ramp over the existing short flight of stairs from St. Mary’s to Marygate Lane to enable people travelling by bike or on foot, as well as people with mobility issues to use St. Mary’s as a preferred quiet route.
The improvements here will also include some resurfacing of the carriageway.
Introduce traffic signals at the junction of Bootham (A19)/St. Mary’s/The Drive to provide a controlled and safer crossing of and exit onto the A19 for people travelling by bike.
This will also benefit residents of St. Mary’s by giving them a controlled exit onto Bootham to overcome queues from inbound traffic
The existing nearby pedestrian crossing on Bootham will be upgraded and brought into the same control as the new signals. Three on-street car parking spaces on St. Mary’s to be removed closest to the junction to allow the stop-line to be set back into the street.
