Askham Bar new park and ride site opens on Sunday

Poppleton Bar park and ride site

Poppleton Bar park and ride site

The Council re claiming that battery powered buses will run from the Poppleton Park and Ride site from Sunday.

If they do, then it will be due to the efforts of workers on the car park and Poppleton roundabout improvements which were still far from finished earlier today.

Battery powered buses were first proposed by the, then LibDem controlled, Council in 2010.

The introduction of seven zero emission buses on the new park and ride route now is due to a grant from the coalition government.

It is a step in thr right direction.

However, there will be some concern that the new service is being introduced before works at the car park site (opposite the Wyevale garden centre) and on the A59/A1237 junction have been completed.

The new service needs to be a showpiece for the City – not just in terms of appearance, but also in providing a swift journey across a junction which has often been congested in the past.

We seem to be some days away from being able to guarantee that kind of improved visitor experience.

The new Park and Ride site at Askham Bar seems to be further advanced and should be ready for service on Sunday.

Approach to A59/A1237 roundabout

 

Is it going to rain? Have a look at the real time radar map of Yorkshire

Residents can now access a radar map showing current weather conditions across the county. Click map for access. http://preview.wunderground.com/wundermap

click to access

click to access

And a reminder that a real time map is also available showing congestion levels, current and planned road works http://roadworks.org/

click to access

click to access

More roads and paths to be resurfaced in Dringhouses/Woodthorpe following LibDem petition

The York Council has finally published the list of streets that will be repaired from its supplementary funding programme this year.

There will be more investment in the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward.

A petition was presented to the last Council meeting by Ann Reid asking for several roads to be resurfaced.

The programme restores investment to the level that was being achieved by the Liberal Democrat led Council in 2011.

Streets in the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward which will receive attention this year are:

  • Leeside (part) £19,300 Footpath
  • Lerecroft £31,000 Footpath
  • Windermere £10,200 Footpath
  • North Lane (part) £54,500 Road
  • Nelsons Lane £23,000 Road
  • Chalfonts £12,000 Road
  • Highmoor Close £16,200 Footpath
  • Wains Road (part) £36,200 Footpath
  • Middlethorpe Drive (part) £40,800 Footpath

The only highway scheduled to be repaired from the core budget in the ward – published in December – was part of the carriageway on Moor Lane.

Click here to download the complete supplementary list

The list should be read in conjunction with the base programme of works which was published in December.

 

Night time road closure near Poppleton

City of York Council will be carrying out overnight works in the area surrounding the A59 in preparation for the new Poppleton Bar Park & Ride site.

The works will take place in two phases from Monday 31 March until Thursday 17 April and from Tuesday 6 May until Friday 23 May.

To allow the council to undertake overnight works temporary traffic signals or, in the second phase, overnight closures will be in place. The working hours will take place generally between 7pm until 6am, although some operations will be shorter than this.
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Highway condition declines in York

A meeting next week will hear the – not unsurprising – news that the majority of York’s highways and footpaths are declining in standard.

11% of unclassified roads (the vast majority of the City’s network) are now in urgent need of repair.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge


Only on its classified network does the City compare well to some other Yorkshire authorities.

As reported recently (see right) the Council has belatedly realised the implications of the work backlog which started to build in 2012 when the Council imposed a 37% cut in maintenance budgets.

It is estimated that there is now a £32 million back log in work.

The Council is now saying that it will reveal in April an additional list of streets that it hopes to resurface in the run up to next years local elections.

A list of the roads and paths currently on the list to be resurfaced before March 2015 can be found here

NB. In the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward part of the Moor Lane carriageway is due to be resurfaced.

Potholes on increase

Despite a relatively mild winter, the number of potholes appearing on local roads continues to increase.

In the main this is a result of major cuts to maintenance investment implemented by the new Labour administration when they took office in 2011.

City of York Council

Road repairs expenditure

Year

Pothole reports

Resurfacing

Basic maintenance

Total

2012/13

2492

£1,570,000

£616,700

£2,186,700

2011/12

1566

£2,134,000

£877,200

£3,011,200

2010/11

2860

£1,706,000

£1,008,000

£2,714,000

2009/10

966

£1,604,000

£1,096,000

£2,700,000

 

The York Council will in 2014/15 return to its pre 2011 levels of investment, but for many roads the change will come too late. A poorly maintained highway costs much more to repair than one that has had some routine maintenance.

We believe that the Council should use the £1.3 million, that it has raised by fining drivers on Lendal and Coppergate, on dealing with the repairs backlog.