City of York Council will be undertaking highway drainage cleaning and survey work from Monday 1 March for approximately five weeks.
This work forms part of planned highway maintenance improvement works programme on Tadcaster Road from Blossom Street to the junction with the A64.
The works will take place in several phases with the aim being to cause minimal disruption to road users.
The table below shows the areas that will be covered in the first five weeks.
Phase
Location
Week
1
Copmanthorpe to A64 Junction Start 3pm – Finish 11pm
1
2
A64 Junction Start 7pm – Finish 7am
1
3
A64 to Park and Ride Start 7pm – Finish 7am
2
4
Sim Balk Lane Junction Start 7pm – Finish 7am
3
5
Sim Balk Lane to Askham Bar Roundabout Start 3pm – Finish 11pm
3
6
Askham Bar Roundabout Start 6pm – Finish 11pm
4 & 5
In March the council will discuss and agree a plan for work to be undertaken on the section from the Askham Bar roundabout to Nunnery Lane.
The works will consist of cleaning using high-pressure water machines and survey works using remote control CCTV cameras. The works will be largely non-intrusive and will not involve any road or footpath excavation. There is however the potential for some minor disruption for road users and local residents. The council has therefore been working closely with its supply chain partners to ensure that any works requiring traffic management (such as lane closures) operate in a way that causes minimum disruption.
Following Cllr Stephen Fenton’s meeting with representatives on 24 February, Network Rail have confirmed that they intend to pause their Moor Lane compound plans until 19 March to allow for meaningful engagement and dialogue with residents.
It is not clear what form this engagement will take, but this is a welcome move. We will share further information as and when it is available.
Cllr Stephen Fenton met with Network Rail representatives on 24 February to ask them to pause plans to establish a compound on land off Moor Lane until February 2024.
News of the proposed compound location came as a surprise to residents who received a letter from Network Rail on Friday 19 February. When asked whether the compound needed planning permission, Network Rail confirmed that it does not. They said:
“The Moor Lane construction compound benefits from deemed planning permission granted by virtue of Part 4, Class A of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. Therefore, the compound does not require planning permission from the local planning authority in this instance.”
In response to the request for a pause, the Network Rail representatives at the meeting wouldn’t commit to this but said they would consider this request internally and come back with a response, hopefully in the next few days. Stephen said that he would be happy to meet Network Rail again at a time of their choosing.
Network Rail expressed a willingness to undertake more meaningful dialogue with local residents and Stephen suggested that the proposed pause would enable them to have these conversations and address issues of concern.
Network Rail committed to providing contact details for a senior colleague who will be able to liaise with the residents at 21 Moor Lane whose almost-completed house sale was scuppered by news of the compound plans.
During the meeting, Stephen was able to obtain some details of the proposed compound’s layout and operation.
The proposed compound is one of a number that Network Rail have established or are planning to establish to support the line upgrade work. Ideally they need to be no more than 1.5km apart. To the north of Moor Lane they will have a compound at the Model Railway site off North Lane, and to the south they will have a compound off Tadcaster Road near Copmanthorpe
The compounds all need to be on the same side of the tracks, as it is the two lines nearest to the field that are being upgraded. This is why Network Rail discounted using land near the new Askham Bar P&R site, as it would be on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’
Network Rail said that that they have been in touch with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust about impacts on Askham Bog
Network Rail is setting up a ‘logistics hub’ elsewhere at which as much of the ‘build’ work will be done as possible, with materials then being transported to their compounds
The compound surface will have a stone dressing and will be surrounded by a two-metre high metal fence
Trackside work will be done during daytime and at night, for which they will use ‘task lighting.’ This work will include ‘sheet piling’
The compound will be lit with ‘tower lights’ with hoods, multi-directional lighting will not be used
There’ll be parking on site for up to 15 cars
The Network Rail representatives at the meeting weren’t aware of any traffic safety impact assessment having been undertaken, but said they would come back on that point
Separately, Stephen has contacted the council’s Public Protection team to alert them to residents’ concerns about the potential for nuisance and disturbance to be caused by the compound’s operation.
Liberal Democrat councillors for Dringhouses & Woodthorpe have called on Network Rail to pause controversial plans to establish a compound on land on Moor Lane in Dringhouses.
Residents and councillors were notified on Friday 19 February by Network Rail that they planned to establish a compound to support the programme of work on the line between York and Church Fenton from March 2021 to February 2024. Network Rail say that it would be used to provide access to the railway, to store materials and machinery and to house staff welfare facilities.
When asked whether they had secured planning permission for the compound, Network Rail responded that “The Moor Lane construction compound benefits from deemed planning permission granted by virtue of Part 4, Class A of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. Therefore, the compound does not require planning permission from the local planning authority in this instance.”
Network Rail’s plans have already had an impact on the local community. The residents at 21 Moor Lane were due to complete their house sale, however, after informing the buyers of the proposed compound, the buyer pulled out citing this issue as the reason.
Local councillors have demanded a meeting with Network Rail and have called on them to pause their compound plans.
“Residents and councillors are completely in the dark about how this compound will operate. We have no clue how the risk of disturbance to neighbouring properties will be managed, how site traffic will be managed and what other sites were considered before choosing this one” said Cllr Stephen Fenton.
“Network Rail say that they don’t need planning permission, but that is no excuse for riding roughshod over the concerns of the local community. These plans need to be paused so that residents’ legitimate concerns can be addressed.”
Symptom-free Covid testing is available again at the Acorn Rugby Club car park on Thanet Road on Monday 22nd & Tuesday 23rd February, 9am to 3pm.
You will be able to book a test from the evening of Sunday 21st February at www.nhs.uk/Coronavirus and selecting the option that you were asked to attend by your local council.
The infection rate in Woodthorpe & Acomb Park has risen to 128.5 cases per 100,000 (up from 96.3 this time last week). The infection rate in Dringhouses & South Bank remains at 38.5 cases per 100,000.
Local councillors have received an e-mail from Network Rail advising that they are to establish a temporary compound on land off Moor Lane next to the railway line, which will be in use from March 2021 to February 2024.
Compound location
The compound will be used to support the programme of work on the line between York and Church Fenton, which relates to the Transpennine Upgrade. This will provide more capacity and faster journeys between Manchester Victoria and York, via Leeds and Huddersfield.
The site will allow Network Rail staff safe access to the railway and will also be used to store materials, machinery and essential welfare facilities.
Network Rail is sending letters to nearby residents in which they state that whilst measures will be taken to keep noise to a minimum, some level of disruption will be unavoidable. Network Rail has committed to keeping disturbance levels as low as possible.
Local councillors have requested a meeting with Network Rail to get more detail on the measures that will be put in place to minimise the impact on neighbours.
City of York Council, as the local highway authority and under Section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, has the power to grant permission for a vehicle crossing to be constructed, enabling a motorised vehicle to drive over a kerbed footway or verge.
Standard dimensions, as set out in Appendix 19 of the council’s Highways Design Guide
This draft vehicle crossing policy aims to support officer decision making when considering applications for new and improved vehicle crossings. See details of the current process for dropped kerbs applications.
Feedback received through the consultation will then be analysed and a report assessing options and making recommendations for a final policy will be presented to the Executive Member for Transport.
For the past 18 months, Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward councillors have been working with council officers to try to progress a scheme for dropped crossings to be installed at a number of council-owned properties in the Thanet Road area. Progress is proving to be painfully slow (not helped by Covid), but we continue to push for action to improve road safety.
Following on from the re-painting work done late last year, further improvements have been made to bus shelters in Acomb Park and Woodthorpe.
The badly degraded perspex sheets in the shelters on Alness Drive and Moor Lane have been replaced with panels of toughened glass. The previous poor state of the bus shelters meant that people waiting inside often struggled to see through the cloudy perspex to see the bus coming.
Moor LaneAlness Drive
However elsewhere in the ward it is proving a struggle to get basic repairs made to damaged shelters (which are also in need of repainting), such as on Ryecroft Avenue, pictured below.
Footpath resurfacing work at Woodthorpe Green got underway on 15 February. The badly-rutted path that links Summerfield Road and Glenridding is being reconstructed.
The work is being funded by the ward budget and is part of a wider package of investment in measures to promote walking and cycling.
The work has however had an impact on access to the playground. It is unfortunate that the work has coincided with half-term, when the playground would be particularly busy. Local councillors are usually informed in advance of carriageway work starting so that they can inform residents, but on this occasion that did not happen. If it had, we could have asked about playground access arrangements.
Thankfully, good progress has been made which meant that access to the playground had been restored by lunchtime on Tuesday 16 February.
