Thanet Road Toucan crossing finished but Council neglects essential work

The Toucan crossing at the junction of Kingsway West and Thanet Road has been completed and is working.

Unfortunately the Council didn’t take the opportunity – when plant was in the area – to resurface the hammerhead on Kingsway West which is very uneven and represents a hazard for cyclists.

The change coincides with the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit outside the Lidl store

Sadly the Council has also failed to upgrade the bollard on the Foxwood lane cycle path approach to the crossing. The wooden bollard has been a  source of complaint for several years. It lacks effective reflectors and, during foggy weather or on dark nights in heavy rain, it becomes virtually invisible for cyclists. The expectation had been that the council would either remove the bollard altogether or at least replace it with one that could be seen at night.

Bollard is a danger when visibility is limited.

 

York Council tackles nettle threat

The Council has acted promoted to remove nettles which were impeding Foxwood Lane. Reported on 2nd October the nettles were removed today.

Nettles removed from Foxwood Lane Not so good is the entrance to Hob Moor from Holly Bank Grove. It’s only October and the path is nearly impassible for pedestrians because of boggy ground. The Holgate Ward committee should take a leaf out of their counterparts in Westfield who arranged for improvements to a similar footpath access, to Acomb Wood from Hawkshead Close, over the summer.

We hope that the contractors, currently working on putting in new Toucan crossing signals at the junction of Kingsway West and Thanet Road, will take the time to resurface the carriageway hammerhead while plant is is the area. The surface is dangerous for cyclists

The same contractors may also be responsible for vehicle damage to the Thanet Road sports area. Bulbs were planted in the grassed area by residents groups over recent years.

Traffic lights set to be upgraded at Carr Lane and Thanet Road

Ageing traffic lights at the junction of York Road with Carr Lane and the Thanet Road crossing near Foxwood Lane are set to be upgraded next month. Work will start on both sites on Monday 2 October.

The lights at the junction of York Road and Carr lane will be fully refurbished. The crossing will also be widened to better meet current safety standards.

The Thanet Road crossing near Foxwood Lane will see the separate pedestrian / cyclist crossing replaced with a shared Toucan crossing. The footpath and cycleway near to the crossing will also be relayed.

Local safety scheme work will also take place alongside this including installing a raised traffic table which will be added to the crossing along with speed cushions in the area to help reduce the speed of vehicles using the road.

Work at the York Road crossing will take place between 7.30am – 5.30pm, Monday – Friday and 9 am – 3pm on Saturdays.    Evening work will take place on Monday 9 October and Thursday 12 October from 6pm – 11pm. Three-way traffic management will be in place at the junction during the works. Full access will be retained to all properties during construction.

Work at the Thanet Road crossing will take place between 7.30am – 5.30pm, Monday – Friday and 8am – 3pm Saturdays. Traffic management will be in place at the junction of Thanet Road / Foxwood Lane during the works. A controlled crossing will be provided during construction to allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road safely.

Thanet Road will be closed between Foxwood Lane and St James Place on 22 October for the installation of the raised traffic table. Additional road closures will be in place on 6 and 7 November to install the speed cushions.

As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption. Residents are assured that everything reasonably possible will be done to keep this to a minimum, however buses that normally use this street will be diverted and motorists should expect some delays and plan their journey accordingly.

The five year traffic signal asset renewal programme was given the green light by the councillor responsible for transport and planning in November 2015 at a public meeting.

The total replacement programme will cost £2.620m over six years and will be funded through the capital programme budget and the existing Local Transport Plan budget.

For information about bus diversions during the works visit: www.itravelyork.info/

Changes to pedestrian/cycle crossing planned for Thanet Road

The Council is planning to remodel the pedestrian/cycle crossing at the junction of Thanet Road and Kingsway West

We understand that, as part of the changes planned for the traffic arrangements on Thanet Road, the pedestrian and cycle crossing will be modified.

The proposals look to change the cycle crossing to a Toucan crossing and amend the footways to create areas of shared pedestrian / cycle space.  The main changes that we are proposing are as follows:

Creation of a new traffic signal installation to form a Toucan crossing This replaces the existing cycle crossing with a parallel pedestrian crossing at the same location.  The new Toucan crossing will include near sided pedestrian / cyclist red / green aspects.

  • The Toucan crossing will be located on a new “bus friendly” flat topped raised table over the carriageway.  This will require additional gullies for drainage to be installed.
  • New shared use pedestrian / cycle areas will be formed with appropriate tactile paving, road markings and signing.
  • The southern cyclist on / off carriageway sections will be re aligned to tie in with the shared use areas and new northern cyclist on / off carriageway sections will be created.
  • The cycle tracks in the western verge are slightly realigned to fit in with the shared use areas.

We are surprised that changes to the present arrangements are planned. Generally the crossing works well.

Some changes should, however, be made at the junction when the lights are modernised.

  • The hammerhead on Kingsway West is in poor condition and needs resurfacing
  • The central bollard on the footpath link to the crossing needs to be replaced. It’s dull colour is very difficult to see in murky weather.

The plans will be available to view at the Ward Committee meeting which is scheduled to  take place at the Bowling Club from 6:30pm on Tuesday

Thanet Road Toucan crossing to be modernised

Thanet Road crossing

toucanpicsThe Toucan Crossing at the end of Kingsway West is due to be replaced during the next year or so.

In response to a Freedom of Information request officials have revealed that the equipment has reached the end of its operational life.

We hope that any work will include resurfacing the end of Kingsway West which is in a poor condition

Other crossings to be modernised in the City include the Toucan linking Tadcaster Road to the Tesco link road.