With support from retailers, North Yorkshire Police and bus operators in York, City of York Council announces new plans this week to tighten enforcement measures on one of York’s busiest bus, cycle and taxi routes.
Traffic enforcement restrictions have been in place on Coppergate since the 1960’s, but only enforced infrequently. Results from an enforcement action day in August 2011, undertaken in partnership with North Yorkshire Police, saw over 600 motorists ignore ‘no access’ signage and illegitimately access Coppergate during restricted hours.
In a bid to reduce congestion and improve journey reliability for buses and taxis through the heart of York’s city centre, the council is introducing strict new controls which include extending the hours of access for authorised vehicles, slightly reducing the hours of access for loading and unloading and introducing automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR).
The responsibility of taking enforcement action will, from next year, fall between North Yorkshire Police and for the first time City of York Council. Using these new powers, the council will introduce an automatic number plate recognition system – pioneered by local authorities up and down the country over the last 10-years including Oxford, Leeds and Plymouth.
From Monday 1 April new advance warning and camera enforcement signage will be in place on all main routes leading onto Coppergate, as well as new coloured road surface areas indicating that this is a ‘no access’ zone, on the junctions of Nessgate and Piccadilly.
However, a two-week grace period will in place from Monday 18 March, with enforcement cameras in full operation from Monday 1 April.
To minimise the amount of disruption to road users, works to erect signage and paint the road entry/exit areas will be carried out over night in the New Year.
A Traffic Order Notice outlining the changes to current timings and restrictions for vehicles to gain access through Coppergate will be made public this week.
Even though there is minimal change to operational timings for loading and unloading, the changes will ensure that there is clearer distinction between peak and non peak commuting hours, which will consequently lead to less congestion and fewer vehicles parked on Coppergate during some of the busiest times of the day.
The new timings will be:
• Between 7am and 7pm – buses, taxis and cyclists will be allowed access (previous timings were from 8am to 6pm)
• Between 10am and 4pm – other vehicles permitted for loading and unloading (previous timings were from 9am to 4pm)
• Between 7pm – 7am – free to all
Frank Wood, Chair of the York Retail Forum, said: “This is a narrow road and an important bus route. It is also important to keep pedestrian areas clear and safe, to allow freedom of access for visitors. There are already regulations in force to restrict traffic and the method of enforcing these regulations needs to be effective and sustainable and I am happy to support the move towards ANPR cameras.”
Inspector Mark Henderson, of York City and East Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “We have done numerous enforcement operations in Coppergate over the years and have issued hundreds of fixed penalty tickets (FPN).
“We have publicised these operations and warned the public but it has made no noticeable difference to the volume of illegal traffic. I think the council’s move to introduce electronic enforcement together with clear signage is a necessary one, to ease congestion and assist with prosecuting those who ignore the restrictions.”
John Carr, Chair of the Quality Bus Partnership, said: “York’s historic centre obviously cannot accommodate unrestricted access and these new measures designed to support the commercial life of the city by giving priority to cycling, shared transport and essential servicing will help bus operators to achieve the more reliable cross-city services everybody wants to see.”
The council uses a system whereby taxi services and bus operators provide their vehicle registration details in order for them to be added to an authorised list and ensure they do not receive a FPN. Once enforcement cameras are in place, staff will manually review registration plates to reduce the numbers of taxis or buses receiving a FPN, who are perhaps not yet registered.
City of York Council is a member of the Bus Lane Adjudicator group, which ensures motorists can receive impartial and independent arbitration, if they wish to appeal against a FPN.