Compulsory Purchase Orders may be needed

Proposals to progress the upgrade of the York Outer Ring Road will be considered by the Council Executive at a meeting next week.

If agreed, the Council would have the option to use Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) for land to dual and upgrade the outer ring road – but only as a last resort.

To progress the scheme, the council needs to purchase private farmland to create an extra lane and improved pedestrian and cycle facilities along a 7.5km stretch of the outer ring road,  between A19 Rawcliffe to A1036 Little Hopgrove.

A report published ahead of the council’s Executive next Thursday (18 March) outlines how the council hopes to reach private agreement with all the landowners, but needs to start the legal process to make sure a CPO is ready, if it’s required.

The Executive will also receive an update on the next steps to deliver the project. Officers are analysing 3500 comments from a recent public consultation before submitting a planning application for the scheme.

The council has secured £58m of external funding for the £66m scheme, which will also include upgrades and extra lanes at seven roundabouts.  £25m funding comes from the Department of Transport, while £33m comes from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.