Crichton Avenue and Wigginton Road junction -roadworks start next week

Ageing and outdated traffic signals at the Crichton Avenue and Wigginton Road junction are set to be replaced from next week, by City of York Council.

Works are estimated to take around six weeks to complete and will start on Monday 8 February. Works were initially due to start in January, but were postponed due to the impact of lockdown.

New, more reliable, traffic signals will be installed on the junction of Crichton Avenue and Wigginton Road. Layout changes are being made to make the junction work more efficiently, this will include introducing new pedestrian crossings, extended double yellow lines on the ‘access road’, kerb line changes and removing the small pedestrian island on Crichton Avenue.

The new traffic signals will be cheaper to run and more reliable. It will also enable the new systems to link direct to the council’s Traffic and Control Centre, so that the Network Monitoring Officers can manage the flow of traffic better in busy periods by adjusting traffic lights to best suit traffic conditions.

To help minimise disruption work will be carried out from 9am to 4.30pm during the week and also will take place on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 4pm. Temporary signals replicating, as closely as possible, the current operation of the junction will be in place throughout the works.

During the works it is anticipated that there will be significant delays when travelling through the junction.
Those using the junction are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for journeys on these routes and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible. Bus services will be operating as normal for the majority of the works but passengers are advised to visit the iTravel website for more information.

Some temporary footway closures will be in place to allow works to be undertaken, however, full access will be retained to all businesses and properties during construction and pedestrian and cyclist routes through the works will be clearly signed. Access to and from the Foss Islands foot/cycleway will be maintained at all times throughout the works.

To find out more about the scheme visit this website.

Road repairs let down in York

The York Council has announced that 3 carriageways in the City will be resurfaced starting next week.

They are;

*Moor Lane: initial works will take place on Tuesday 28 April, between 6pm to 9pm, weather permitting. The works will consist of removing all existing road studs in preparation for resurfacing works. The resurfacing works will take place on Sunday 3 May between 9.30am to 11am.
A1237 – A59 roundabout to B1224 roundabout: initial works will take place on Tuesday 28 April, between 7pm to 9pm, weather permitting. The works will consist of removing all existing road studs in preparation for resurfacing works. The resurfacing works will take place on Sunday 3 May 2pm to 4.30pm.
Wigginton Road (section 1) – Railway line to A1237: The resurfacing works will take place on Sunday 3 May between 7am and 9am.

The Council has still not announced its full highways repair programme for the forthcoming 11 months. The Council is now in breach of its own code of conduct. It recently agreed click to make available programme and performance information in a transparent way.

While the current health crisis may have delayed some aspects of the Councils work, there is no excuse for the lack of any communication with stakeholders.

Last year the programme was published in March although those documents have still not been listed on the Councils Open Data site (which includes only the 2018 list).

The Council has also removed programme details from its – constantly updated – GIS mapping system.

At the same time the Council’s “report it on line” system is proving to be unreliable. Intermittently it is preventing a “flag” being dropped onto its GIS map indicating the location of potholes and, health related, cleansing issues. The issue is being followed up by a local Councillor. It is important to restrict the use of alternative communication channels – such as telephone and email – as Council resources need to be concentrated on the coronavirus response.

An FOI will be submitted to obtain the highways list. It would be better if officials/Councillors simply offered a progress report.

*Assumed to be Moor Lane Dringhouses

Roadworks on Fishergate and Wigginton Road to start next week

City of York Council will be carrying out resurfacing works from next week at Fishergate (starting 17 February) and Wigginton Road (starting 9 March).

The Fishergate works start on Monday 17 February and will take around seven nights to complete (weather permitting), working between 7.30pm till 5am, Monday to Friday only (weekend excluded).

In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the junction of Kilburn Road up to, but not including, the junction of Fewster Way will be put in place.

Fulford Road and the junction of Cemetery Road will also be closed as part of the works. A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic.

Buses will be diverted during working hours as follows:

Phase 1 – Junction of Cemetery Rd & Fishergate – Services 7 and 415 – Inbound via Heslington Lane, University Rd, Heslington Rd, Kent St. Outbound via Kent Street, Heslington Rd, University Rd, Heslington Lane.

Phase 2 – Fishergate closed between Cemetery Rd and Fawcett St – Services 7 and 415 – Inbound via Cemetery Rd, Kent Street, Fawcett St. Outbound via Paragon St, Fawcett St, Kent St, Cemetery Rd.

Phase 3 – Fawcett Street closed between Kent Street and Fishergate – Services 7 and 415- normal route inbound. Outbound via Kent Street, Cemetery Rd. Services 66/N66 – inbound via Cemetery Rd, Fishergate. Outbound via normal route.

The Wigginton Road works will start Monday 9 March and will take around two weeks to complete (weather permitting), working between 8pm till 5am, Monday to Friday.

In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the roundabout at A1237 to the traffic light junction at Mill Lane will be necessary. A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic.

During both schemes, site staff will be on hand to advise and assist residents about the access restrictions once the works are ongoing.

Any specific access requirements maybe arranged by speaking to the Site Traffic Management Operatives or the Engineer who will co-ordinate with residents and business requirements around ongoing construction operations.

Emergency services will be permitted at all times. Cyclists will have to dismount and use the footways.

As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption and inconvenience to the public, however the contractor will try at all times to keep any disruption to a minimum.

To keep up-to-date with the latest road works in York visit www.york.gov.uk/roadworks or follow @York_Travel on social media.

Residents can contact Murtaza Khaliq, site supervisor, on 07880 505375, if they have any concerns during the works, particularly if this is related to noise issues.

Wigginton Road and Haxby Road junction roadworks

Ageing and outdated traffic signals at the Wigginton Road and Haxby Road junction are set to be replaced next month by City of York Council, in a project partially funded by York’s bus operators.

Works are estimated to take around six weeks to complete and will start on Sunday 19 May.

New, more reliable, traffic signals will be installed on the junction of Wigginton Road and Haxby Road. Layout changes are being made to make the junction work more efficiently, this will include realigning the outbound Haxby Road movement to make it straighter and making the pedestrian islands larger.

The new technology being installed will help to improve bus journey times and reliability on Wigginton Road and ease congestion in the area.

The new traffic signals will also be cheaper to run and more reliable. It will also enable the new systems to link direct to the council’s Traffic and Control Centre, so that the Network Monitoring Officers can manage the flow of traffic better in busy periods by adjusting traffic lights to best suit traffic conditions.

To help minimise disruption work will be carried out from 9.30am – 4pm during the week and also will take place on Saturdays and Sundays from 8am – 3pm. Temporary signals replicating, as closely as possible, the current operation of the junction will be in place throughout the works.

During the works it is anticipated that there will be significant delays when travelling through the junction.

Those using the junction are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for journeys on these routes and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible. Bus services will be operating as normal for the majority of the works but passengers are requested to visit www.itravelyork.info/ for more information.

Temporary pedestrian crossing points will be available at all times during the works to ensure that pedestrian facilities are available. Traffic marshals will be on site between 7am and 7pm, to help manage the traffic on site and to assist with pedestrians crossing the road.

To find out more about the scheme visit www.york.gov.uk/HaxbyRd

Council set to back track on Wigginton Road traffic scheme

The York Council is set to abandon its plan to remove the mini roundabout on Wigginton Road at its junction with Fountain Street.

Most respondents to a consultation exercise said that the mini roundabout was essential for drivers wanting to turn right at the junction.

There has been some scepticism about the plan which is aimed to reduce bus journey times past the hospital by 90 seconds in the AM peak.

The Council will, however, press ahead with a reconfiguration of the Wigginton Road/Haxby Road junction.

The changes are expected to cost around £200,000

A copy of the report can be read by clicking here

New Wigginton Road/Haxby Road junction plan

Mini roundabout

York Council consults on Wigginton Road improvements

Plans include rebuilding the junction between Haxby Road, Wigginton Road and Clarence Street and replacing the existing mini-roundabout between Wigginton Road and Fountayne Street with a new junction.

This will help to:

reduce journey times for traffic, particularly buses, on Wigginton Road
improve pavements and crossings – and create larger pedestrian islands at the Haxby Road/ Wigginton Road/ Clarence Street junction
replace the traffic signals at the Haxby Road, Wigginton Road, Clarence Street junction.

To submit feedback on the proposals email buses@york.gov.uk or post responses to Julian Ridge, Better Bus Area Manager, City of York Council, West Offices, York, YO1 6GA – by Sunday 2 September 2018.

Further information about the proposals, including plans, can be found at www.itravelyork.info (apparently) . Or, view the FAQs below.
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Changes to traffic arrangements near Hospital on Wigginton Road

A meeting next week will consider plans to reduce bus journey times on Wigginton Road. There is a congestion black-spot near the hospital which may be made worse as more homes are built on land next to Nestle.

Wigginton Road mini roundabout set to be removed

A Council report says,

“Observation, analysis of bus journey time data and modelling all indicate that, since the improvements made at the Clarence Street/ Lord Mayor’s Walk junction, the worst source of unreliability for buses on the corridor is found on the stretch of Wigginton Road between the Crichton Avenue bridge and the Wigginton Road/ Haxby Road/ Clarence Street junction.

The delays are particularly severe at Hospital shift start and end times. At these times it usually takes around 8 minutes (and sometimes much longer) for buses to cover the 1.5 km between Crichton Avenue and the Bootham/ Gillygate junction – an average speed of 7mph”.

The proposals involve:

Remodelling the Wigginton Road/ Haxby Road/ Clarence Street junction (as shown in figure 1) to prioritise Wigginton Road traffic (saving of up to 20 seconds);

Replacing the existing mini-roundabout at the junction between Fountayne Street, Wigginton Road and the Hospital’s northern access road with a conventional give way junction

A council report says, “(saving of up to 10 seconds); and

Working with the bus operators to reduce the amount of time buses wait at the Fountayne Street pair of stops – by making changes to their fares structures and timing points so that vehicles no longer have to wait time at these stops (saving of up to 10 seconds)

Consultation on the plan will take place in the summer with a budget of £250,000 being set aside for implementation later in the year.

One major issue is likely to be the effect that the changes would have on the accessibility of the Hospital