Poppleton Bar delays continue as Council responds to Freedom of Information request

At the last Council meeting Councillors were told that all work on the Poppleton Bar Park and Ride project would be completed by the end of July.

No end to Poppleton Bar works

No end to Poppleton Bar works

However there is still a considerable amount of work outstanding with periodic impacts on congestion levels in the area.

While the final May deadline for conclusion of the whole Access York contract is long past, it is unclear why there are continuing delays at Poppleton (other than the obvious one that the contractors are simply not fully resourcing their contract obligations).

Cycle tunnel in use but no lane marking on paths

Cycle tunnel in use but no lane marking on paths

Councillor Ann Reid is now pressing for answers and some have emerged as responses to Freedom of Information requests

One (click to download) confirmed that the whole Access York project – of which the Poppleton works form part – was due to be completed by 23rd May.

Details of the road closure orders have also been published on the Council’s web site

Meanwhile, the permanent traffic signals at the A59 junction with the Park and Ride access road are now in place, but the following work is still outstanding

  1. Considerable surfacing and landscaping work
  2. White lining (e.g. on the cycle path exit from the A1237 pedestrian/cycle tunnel. (If this is intended to be a shared cycle/[pedestrian space then it does not seem to comply with the specification agreed with the Blind and Partially Sighted Association)
24 hour lighting on new roundabout

24 hour lighting on new roundabout

Yesterday (Thursday) the street lights in the area were permanently lit. Taken with the decision to exclude the provision of on-site electricity generation from the project, this does seem to fly in the face of the Councils environmental policies?

Drivers now want a realistic completion date for the project.

Residents would also like to be reassured that there are penalty clauses in the contract which will be invoked to compensate the Council, taxpayers and drivers for the inconvenience and additional expense that they have suffered over the last few months.

Another day, another missed deadline!

Continuing road works, lane closures and car park construction at Poppleton Bar 1st August 2014

Continuing road works, lane closures and car park construction at Poppleton Bar 1st August 2014

Poppleton – Road works continue

Despite absolute guarantees given at the last Council meeting -that the A59/A1237 road works and Park and Ride construction would be finished by the end of July – work is still in full swing today.

There are lane restrictions, big tail backs on the A59 and temporary traffic signals.

Footpaths have still to be completed and there is no sign of the permanent traffic lights which were due to be installed at the Park and Ride site junction.

The Park and Ride site itself is also far from finished.

The Council can’t blame poor weather for a project which is now over 4 months behind its scheduled (final) completion date.

More lane closures on A59 near Poppleton

More traffic delays are in prospect as lane restrictions are re-introduced on the A59 near its Boroughbridge Road junction with the A1237.

The lane restrictions had been lifted for the Tour de France.

Now, with work at the junction dragging on, further congestion and inconvenience for drivers is expected.

The nearby Park and Ride site is also far from finished and the delays – and the decision of the Council – to start bus services from the unfinished site – will be considered at the York Council meeting next week (17th).

Questions tabled include:

(xxxiv) To the Cabinet Member for Transport from Cllr Reid:
“Who took the decision, and when, to open the new Park and Ride site at Poppleton before work had been completed (the outstanding works on 9th June included car parking space, signage, traffic signals, road junction layout, layout, A1237 junction improvements etc) and when will all work connected with the Park and Ride site and associated road works be completed?”

(xxxvi) To the Cabinet Member for Transport from Cllr Reid:
“ What has been the number of vehicles parked on average each day at the new Park and Ride site at Poppleton and how many passengers have been carried by the new buses on each day since 9th June?”

Leeside and Lerecroft footpaths being repaired this month

The City of York Council will start work week commencing 7th July 2014 to reconstruct and resurface the footway on Leeside. This scheme is programmed to take 4 weeks, weather permitting.

The work consists of excavating the current tarmac surfacing, re-grading the stone foundation and laying a new layer of tarmac, road kerbs are to be renewed at vehicle crossings.
 

The Council will start work week commencing 21st July 2014 to reconstruct the footway on Lerecroft Road. This scheme is programmed to take 8 weeks, weather permitting.

The works consists of lifting the current flagged footway, relaying it and replacing worn or broken flags as the scheme progresses. All vehicle crossing are to be reconstructed in concrete.

Poppleton Bar Park and Ride site still not completed

The York Council has missed yet another deadline for the “final” completion of the Park and Ride site at Poppleton.

Poppleton park and ride car park 28th June 2014

The Park and Ride service was opened prematurely by the Council 3 weeks ago although essential signage, traffic signals, parking bays, landscaping and improvements to the A1237/A59 junction had not been completed.

Not surprisingly, despite the novelty of being able to ride on the City’s first electric buses, user numbers have been very low.

Most bus services are running empty.

By Saturday evening carriageway surfacing had been completed near the roundabout but lane restrictions remain in place as work to access footpaths and the cycle path has yet to be finished.

The Park and Ride site itself resembles the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

It will present a poor backdrop for the TV pictures of the Tour de France riders who are scheduled to pass the site next Sunday morning.

TV coverage is scheduled to be beamed world wide and was one of the main reasons given by the Council for its £1.6 million investment in the event.

The Council has failed to provide any explanation for the latest delays nor for its decision to open the Park and Ride facility before work was completed.

The failure is the latest in a sting of misadventures which saw that Council forced to abandon plans to turn Monk Stray into a camping site and which has seen very low ticket sales for their highly expensive Grand Departee concert being held at Huntington Stadium on Thursday.

They have, however, now added the popular local band HUGE to the concert programme no doubt ensuring that the Council’s propaganda machine will be able to refer to a huge attendance at the event!

Poppleton park and ride road works 28th June 2014

 

 

 

 

York gets extra £311,253 to fill in 5000 potholes

Click to access interactive map

Click to access interactive map

The coalition government has allocated York over £300,000 to deal with some of the potholes that blight local roads.

It is estimated that this will allow around 5000 holes to be filled in.

The money is in addition to the £245,719 allocated earlier in the year to repair the worse ravages of the winter weather.

However the central government initiative will do little to address the backlog in highways repairs which has built up over the last two financial years following a decision by the local York Council Labour Leadership to lop a total of £4 million from the highways budgets.

The potholes represents a particular risk for cyclists with highway margin work (the 1 metre band near the highway kerbside) having been given a low priority by the Council over the last 3 years.

Some road humps are also in a particularly poor condition and represent a hazard for all road users.

 

Leeman Road closure – bus service rerouting

Services 2, 5 and 5A affected

bus stop

Monday 16 June 2014 – Friday 20 June 2014

Road Works

  • Area: Leeman Road
  • Cause: Roadworks
  • Duration: 5 days

Leeman Road will be closed from Monday 16th June at 0900 to Friday 20th June until 1800

Buses will divert as follows –

Service 2 Rawcliffe Bar Park & Ride Green Line
From Water End bus stop continues along Water End non stop along Poppleton Road, Holgate Road, Blossom Street, Queen Street, Station Road to Station Avenue, then on normal route to Rawcliffe Bar.

Service 5/5A
To Strensall: After Boroughbridge (Malvern Avenue stop), buses will continue non stop along Poppleton Road, Holgate Road, Blossom
Street, Queen Street, Station Road to Station Avenue, then normal route to Strensall.

From Strensall: After Station Road, buses will continue non stop along Station Road, Queen Street, Blossom Street, Holgate Road,
Poppleton Road to Boroughbridge Road (Malvern Avenue stop), then normal route to Acomb.

University Road consultations

City of York Council in partnership with the University of York, are proposing to undertake safety improvements and construct a cycle route alongside University Road to help make the area more accessible and safer for students and residents.

The proposed cycle path will extend along the northern side of University Road between Siwards Way and Innovation Way roundabouts, and will mainly be new construction within the existing verge area. The existing path areas near the library bus stops will be retained.
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A1237 roadworks to last for another 3 weeks.

Council criticised for also closing Leeman Road alternative route from Monday

The York Council has been criticised by motorists for not delaying the start, on the resurfacing the carriageway near the Marble Arch bridge on Leeman Road, until the Poppleton roadworks were completed..

A1237It has now been confirmed that the work is being undertaken at the same time as severe restrictions on the A1237 northern by pass continue to be applied.

The Council has issued a statement today saying,

“‘Businesses are open’, is the message City of York Council is emphasising whilst contractors complete overnight highways works in the north of the city.

Following the opening of the Poppleton Bar Park&Ride, the focus now moves to completing the highway works along the A59 at the junctions with Station Road, Poppleton and the York Outer Ring Road.

Contactors Belfour Beatty will continue to work at night in the area as follows:

  • · Week commencing 9 June: working mainly around the A59/1237 roundabout using temporary traffic signals 8pm to 6am.
  • · Week commencing 16 June: working mainly around the junction of the A59 with Station Road, Poppleton using temporary traffic signals 8pm to 6am.
  • · Week commencing 23 June: finishing off the main roundabout surfacing and markings using a road closure of the A1237, for three nights between 23 – 25 June from 8pm to 6am. Surfacing of Station Road using a road closure of the Station Road/A59 junction for one night (planned for 23 June). Final surfacing on the A59 east and west of the roundabout using temporary traffic signals.

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