Residents urged to plan ahead for Tour de Yorkshire

The Tour de Yorkshire will once again return to the regions roads from 2-5 May.

The first stage, taking riders on a fast and flat route from Doncaster to Selby passes through several villages on the outskirts of York, including Elvington, Wheldrake and Escrick in the late afternoon on Thursday 2 May.

The A19 near Escrick will be closed to traffic when the race passes through the area.No parking will be permitted on the race route during the race period. Details of the route are available on the Tour de Yorkshire website at https://letour.yorkshire.com/tour-de-yorkshire-2019/

To ensure the safety of spectators and riders alike there will be a rolling road closure for most of the race route, this will be managed by the police. This means that the traffic will be stopped at any given point between 10 and 30 minutes ahead of the first cyclist.

When the race, and all the official and team vehicles, have passed the roads will reopen again. The last vehicle in the race group is a lorry with screens on both sides telling people watching that the roads are open again.

Typically the closure is in place for between 20 and 50 minutes depending on the severity of the stage, how far into the stage the race is and the weather.

It’s expected that the race will reach Elvington at approximately 4.46pm, Wheldrake at 4.53pm and Escrick at 5pm. The route joins the A19 at Escrick and turns off again to Stillingfleet. This will mean that the A19 will be closed whilst the race passes through the area affecting travellers.

Bus routes 18, 36, X36, 42, 45, 46, X46 and 415 will all continue to operate, but will be delayed as a result of the race. It is anticipated that the closures and additional race traffic will cause delays in the area. Motorists are advised to plan their journeys to avoid the route during the race period if possible.

For more information visit www.itravelyork.info/buses/bus-routes-and-journey-times/diversion-information

Pedestrian access will be available to polling stations throughout the period. Voters in the wards affected have been notified of the access restrictions.

Pupils pedal the Yorkshire Tour baton around the city

In the tyre tracks of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire, York school children will be pedalling a relay race as part of the Schools Yorkshire Tour.

A baton is cycled from school to school and between the region’s local authorities by pupils.

This year, Dunnington primary school pupils together with The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of York have the honour of taking the baton for York from East Riding at the border on Stamford Bridge viaduct on Friday 8 June at 2:15pm.

On Monday 11 June, York pupils will cycle the baton around the city. Dunnington Primary school children will start the relay by pedalling the baton over to Badger Hill Primary School. Badger Hill pupils will ride it on to Lord Deramore’s for a handover and so on. The baton will then go to St Lawrence’s, St George’s RC, Knavesmire, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Carr Junior School and then St Barnabas primary schools.

The following day, Tuesday 12 June, St Barnabas’ primary school pupils will cycle the baton to nearby York railway station and, with Cllr Keith Myers, pass it on to school representatives from Doncaster on the 10am train, who will carry the relay on to South Yorkshire. (more…)

Ominously quiet on York roads at 8:30am Saturday

Click to update to see latest traffic info

The Council have issued the following media release

City of York Council is reminding residents and visitors to plan ahead for Saturday 2 May when stage two of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire will finish in York. A women’s race will take place ahead of the stage two finish, covering four laps of the 20km circuit from 10.30am.

Dame Sarah Storey and Joanna Rowsell will line up alongside nearly 100 of the UK’s best female cyclists to tackle four laps of the 20km circuit. At approximately 2.25pm the Tour de Yorkshire peloton, including Sir Bradley Wiggins and Olympic gold medallist Samuel Sanchez, will enter the circuit from Holtby and take on two and a half laps of the circuit before a dramatic finish on Knavesmire Road.

The circuit will see the riders start at the Knavesmire before heading through Micklegate Bar and crossing Ouse Bridge. They will then continue through the city centre and on to Layerthorpe before heading out via Heworth and Stockton Lane to Murton. They will then pass through Osbaldwick, Tang Hall and Layerthorpe. The peloton will then go over Skeldergate bridge, down Bishopthorpe Road and rejoin Knavesmire Road for the start/finish line.

The New Ebor Street Feast will add a splash of fun and a hint of magic to what already promises to be a fantastic day. Positioned alongside the finish line on the Knavesmire the festival with give spectators, residents and visitors a chance to sample some of the finest food and drink Yorkshire has to offer.

York will also play host to several street parties throughout the day, including the ‘E by Eck’ street party on Bishy Road, and a day of events in both Fossgate and Micklegate.

Residents and tourists are advised that the route will be closed from 8am on Saturday 2 May until approximately 5pm, or as soon as possible after the race has finished. During the time that the roads are closed their will be no access for vehicles to properties either adjacent to or on the race route itself. This will also include streets connected to the route that can not be accessed from elsewhere.

Anyone who is planning to travel on Saturday 2 May will need to ensure that they have parked their vehicle in an area where they can access the remaining open road network. No vehicles will be allowed to drive on the race route after road closures are in place. Residents are also advised to pass this information to anyone intending to visit them during the weekend.

For more information on the Tour de Yorkshire in York visit www.york.gov.uk/tdy. For more information on travelling in York visit www.itravelyork.info

Residents say “No” to Tour de Yorkshire subsidy

Highway surfaces also criticised in latest resident’s survey results

A survey of 10,000 homes in west York has produced a interesting insight into residents views.

Asked whether the York Council should use £150,000 of taxpayer’s money to subsidise the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race scheduled for 3^rd May, 63% opposed the idea.

This will be a blow to the Councils “Cabinet” who approved expenditure of £250,000 on the event, before deciding to take half of the subsidy from business rate income.

Most criticised public service was highway maintenance. 78% said that road and footpath surfaces were unsatisfactory. This is a major rebuff for the Labour/Green Council budget for next year which will see £300,000 cut from maintenance expenditure.

70% of respondents thought that the Knights Rugby team should be able to play at the new Community Stadium. Talks on accommodating the Knights needs are rumbling on with little sign of differences being resolved quickly. Relationships deteriorated a couple of months ago when Council officials launched a public attack on the rugby clubs owner. The future of the Community Stadium is due to be debated at a meeting scheduled for 27^th March.

Opinion was more divided on other issues with 53% undecided about whether the standard of healthcare in the city was satisfactory.

Plan ahead for the Tour de Yorkshire

City of York Council is encouraging residents and visitors to plan ahead for Saturday 2 May when stage two of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire will finish in York.

Stage two of the Tour de Yorkshire will see riders setting off from Selby, racing through the East Riding of Yorkshire before making their way to York. The peloton will enter York from the A166 before taking on two and half laps of a 20km finishing circuit, around the city from the Racecourse and out to Murton, with the finish expected to be between 3.30 and 4pm.

A professional women’s race will cover five laps of the same 20km finishing circuit in the morning, with the race starting at 11am at Knavesmire Road. This will give people another great chance to see world class cycling in York.

The fast-paced circuit will see the cyclists negotiate the city’s historic streets including the bar and cobbles of Micklegate and the beautiful bar walls along Paragon Street.

The circuit also makes a welcome return to Bishopthorpe Road to replicate scenes that were seen across the world during the Tour de France.
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Tour de Yorkshire – residents briefings

Residents, businesses and local groups are being invited to find out more about the Tour de Yorkshire, at a series of information sessions held across the city.

People can expect to find out more on arrangements for routes, traffic management and travelling around the city for the event on 2 May. Several Tour de Yorkshire drop-in sessions will take place in the entrance hall at the councils West Offices in the run up to the race, including:

• Tuesday 24 February – 10am-12noon
• Tuesday 24 March – 2-4pm
• Friday 24 April – 10am-2pm

In addition, several Residents’ Forums and Parish Council meetings will have information on the Tour de Yorkshire, including:

• Wednesday 25 February, Stockton Parish Council, Stockton-on-the-Forest Village Hall from 7.30pm
• Wenesday 4 March, Haxby and Wigginton Residents Forum, Ralph Butterfield’s School, 7pm
• Thursday 5 March, Dringhouses’ Residents Forum, St Edward’s the Confessor Church, Tadcaster Road, 7pm
• Monday 9 March, Haxby Town Council, Memorial Hall, Haxby, 7.30pm
• Tuesday 17 March, Osbaldwick Parish Council, St Thomas’ Church from 7-pm
• Wednesday 18 March, Huntington Parish Council, Huntington Community Centre, 7pm
• Wednesday 25 March, Clifton Residents Forum, Clifton Green Primary School, 7pm

The Council says: “As we are able to progress our plans we want to inform residents of the best viewing options and how they can go about moving around the city on 2 May. We hope residents and visitors will start creating a plan for their day in advance so they are able to fully enjoy it.”

Council taxpayers are coughing up over £150,000 to subsidise the event which is taking place on a busy bank holiday!

For more information on the Tour de Yorkshire visit www.york.gov.uk/info/200721/tour_de_yorkshire

York Council plans to spend £250,000 on “Tour de Yorkshire” cycling event as

More cuts to local environment planned

It looks like Labour Councillors want to spend another £1/4 million on a 3 day cycling event next May. One of the stages of the new “Tour de Yorkshire” will finish in York with several local sprint races planned.

Taxpayers will be expected to pick up the bill, from the commercial rights owners, for a whopping £100,000 “hosting fee” for the event,.

A report which is being considered tomorrow, by the Councils Cabinet, shows no sponsorship or admittance fees aimed at offsetting the bills.

A decision will apparently be made before the Inquiry into the disastrous Grand Departy flop is completed.

Organisers were forced to admit a couple of months ago that the Huntington Stadium event – staged separately from the Tour de France start – had lost over £186,000. An inquiry into the event was subsequently ordered by the Council’s scrutiny committee.

More Cuts

The same Council Cabinet agenda talks of major cuts to basic service standards.

Road surfaces in Queenswood Grove breaking up

Road surfaces in Queenswood Grove already breaking up

£1.3 million a year will be cut from social care budgets.

As well as the much publicised proposals to charge for green bin emptying and move to 4 weekly residual waste collections, Labour are now admitting that more cuts are planned to open space maintenance.

Volunteers will apparently be expected to maintain bowling greens, tennis courts, flower beds and undertake rose planting. The report says that the “replacement of bedding plants with ornamental grass at 18 sites could potentially save 1,519 hours of labour”.

Ominously the report talks of York’s roads and footpaths being “better than average” suggesting that further cuts in maintenance standards are planned.

Many residents will view with incredulity any proposals which would allow a further deterioration in the standard of highways surfaces.