Resurfacing boost for Moor Lane

City of York Council has announced that the stretch of Moor Lane from the ring road roundabout to Cairnborrow is to be resurfaced in November.

The news comes after residents and local Lib Dem councillors raised the deteriorating state of the road, particularly on the bend.

The works will commence on 25th November for a period of 3 nights (weather permitting) and works will be carried out between 7.30pm and 5.00am.   In order to carry out these works safely the use of a temporary road closure from the ring road to the junction with Cairnborrow will be necessary. A clearly signed diversion route will be set out for through traffic.

Number 4 bus service diversion route announced

First have announced the diversion route for the number 4 bus from Monday 9th to Sunday 20th September, when St Helens Road will be closed due to work being done by Northern Powergrid.

Heading towards the city centre, the number 4 will miss out Eason View, Thanet Road and St Helens Road. It will instead carry on along Chaloners Road before turning left onto Moor Lane and then left at the Askham Bar roundabout onto Tadcaster Road.

St Helens Road to be closed for electrical works

Notices and signs have gone up on St Helens Road announcing the closure of the road for 11 days from Monday 9 September.

A diversion route is referred to, but no more detailed information has been provided.

Local councillors received an e-mail from Northern Powergrid on 19 August which stated:

“We are investing £80,000 to reinforce our network along part of Tadcaster Road, St Helen’s Road and Eason View.  As is generally the case with works of this nature, there will be a degree of disruption, but we are working closely with the Highways department at City of York Council to minimise the impact of our work as much as we are able.

We will be activating a thorough programme of communications to keep our local stakeholders and the local community informed of what we are doing and why. As well as sharing information with MP Rachael Maskell and yourselves, we are also issuing information leaflets/customer letters and running a PR and social media campaign so that everyone is aware of exactly what we are doing, why we are doing it and how they it may impact them.”

Local councillors have heard nothing from Northern Powergrid since 19 August, and so we have asked them to provide more information that can be shared with residents and on social media.

Ultra Fibre Optic to bypass Middlethorpe Grove

City if York Council has confirmed that TalkTalk will not be able to install Ultra Fibre Optic cable on Middlethorpe Grove until September 2021 at the earliest.

Within legislation the council can protect recently resurfaced roads and footpaths, such as those on Middlethorpe Grove, with what is referred to as a Section 58 notice. It serves a two-fold purpose – to prevent the street from being dug up within a short period after being resurfaced or reconstructed, and to avoid repetitive disruption of traffic by works being carried out in the street.

Footpaths, driveways and road surfaces on Middlethorpe Grove have all been recently renewed

Local authorities do have a degree of discretion in how they enforce Section 58, for example they can waive protection if the street only has a month or two before the period was about to expire. Middlethorpe Grove has a ‘live’ Section 58 in place until September 2021. The council was not willing to waive the Section 58 on Middlethorpe Grove so soon after the work had been done, though it did provide notice to TalkTalk in advance that they would need to build ahead of the impending refurbishment schemes or risk a ‘lock out’ of these areas.

We understand that TalkTalk chose not to build ahead of the refurbishment and therefore cannot proceed with work to install UFO on Middlethorpe Grove at the present time.

What we don’t yet know is when (and if) TalkTalk will return to do the installation work after September 2021.

Chaloners Road parking suspension

Parking will be temporarily suspended on Chaloners Road – from Eason View to Moor Lane – to allow for improvement works to be undertaken by the council.

During the parking suspension road markings will be re-painted, pot holes will be repaired, the carriageway will be mechanically swept and road gullies (drains) will be cleaned.

The suspension will be in force from Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th June from 9am to 3pm, though it is hoped that the suspension will not be needed for three days.

During the parking suspension road markings will be re-painted, pot holes will be repaired, the carriageway will be mechanically swept and road gullies (drains) will be cleaned.

Drainage improvement works underway on Tadcaster Road

Following complaints raised by local Lib Dem councillors, works are underway on Tadcaster Road to improve surface water drainage outside the shops near the junction with Slingsby Grove.

The problem

The solution (hopefully!)

The parking bay next to the bus stop build-out is regularly flooded and the drainage channel clogged up with leaf mulch. It is hoped that new drainage arrangements will improve the situation and make it less likely that motorists will choose to park in the adjacent ‘Loading Only’ layby, which causes line of sight issues for residents exiting Slingsby Grove.