Huntington Road chicanes to be reinstated?

Huntington Road proposals click to access

Huntington Road proposals click to access

City of York Council is proposing to reinstate chicanes (traffic calming measures) on Huntington Road, near the former Sessions printers, which were temporarily removed during the development of new homes in the area.

There was a requirement to remove the existing priority give-way measures (chicanes) during the development as they would have caused problems for construction traffic and access onto Huntington Road.

Temporary speed cushions were installed prior to the work commencing, as required under the planning conditions. However, in the long term it was always understood that the chicanes would be restored when most of the construction work was completed and suitable new positions had been agreed.

To help identify where the replacement chicanes would be best positioned, the new street layout was assessed and the proposals were put forward for local consultation with local residents, parish councillors, local businesses, relevant ward councillors and relevant road user organisations.

Following this consultation, it is recommended that the council reinstates the chicanes and cost of installing these will be met by the developer Ben Bailey Ltd.

Local Liberal Democrats have criticised the limited public consultationon plans to reinstate chicanes on Huntington Road.

The plans, which were announced today and are due to be decided on next week, would reinstate chicanes on Huntington Road, near the former Sessions printers. The chicanes were removed during the development of new homes in the area. However, only a limited public consultation took place on the plans despite the number of cars which use the road. Liberal Democrat councillors had requested that consultation letters be sent out to a much wider area than just those properties adjacent to the scheme.

Cllr Keith Orrell, Councillor for Huntington and New Earswick, commented: (more…)

Lendal Bridge private report published.

click for full report

click for full report

A cross-party review into the Lendal Bridge closure was blocked tonight despite the emergence of a damning new report into the botched trial.

A review of the controversial trial was requested by Lib Dem councillors in June, but blocked by Labour members.

However Cllr Andrew Waller, the new chair of the Economic & City Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee, made a fresh review proposal. This proposal was defeated tonight by 4 votes to 3 with Green and Labour councillors voting against. Westfield Councillor Stephen Burton again voted against holding an inquiry

Lib Dem, Conservative and Independent Labour Group members supported the review proposal.

The issue is now likely to be discussed at the December Council meeting when opposition Councillors are expected to press for all drivers, who had been fined, to be written to and advised of their right to claim a refund. The December deadline for claims is also likely to be extended.

Whether we will see a proper inquiry into the failings before the May elections remains to be seen. However, the content of the independent report means that questions will have to be answered sooner or later

(more…)

Lendal Bridge Inquiry to be revived

£162,000 refunded so far to motorists who were illegally fined.

It looks like the Labour Councillors who were responsible for the £1.3 million Lendal Bridge closure fiasco will not get away scot free.Lendal bridge notice

In August, when Labour still had a Council majority, they voted not to undertake a review of what went wrong with the trial closure.

Now a report, suggesting that a full and open inquiry into the failure should take place, is to be considered on 12th November.

  • Residents will be eager to learn how a scheme, that was obviously failing only one month into the trial, was allowed to continue for another 6 months.
  • They will be expecting the legal advice received by the Council at each stage to be made public.
  • They will want to know what secret meetings took place and how they influenced the Councils position.
  • They will look very carefully at the public statements made by officials and Council members in March and April 2014 – after the enforcement arrangements had been found to be unlawful – and which gave the impression that the cameras were still being used for enforcement purposes.
  • The committee will also no doubt wish to look in detail at the costs that were incurred, not least those that accumulated during an ill considered attempt to appeal against the decision of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Adjudicator

Most of all they will be looking to the Council to remove its arbitrary December deadline for refund applications – from those fined unlawfully – and to finally agree to write directly to all those affected telling them of their right to claim a refund.

So far 7,783 refund claims have been processed.

To date a total of £162k has been refunded as part of the refund process.

However, we understand that some claims have been refused and information about how many – and why – is urgently being sought by LibDem Councillors.

Income from the Lendal Bridge trial totalled £1,378,000. There was administrative expenditure totalling £527k which primarily covered the cost of processing penalty charge notices. As part of the year end accounts the Council made provision of £708,000 to cover the refund penalty charge notices.

Separately the report confirms that the Adjudicator has still not dealt with an appeal against his decision on Coppergate. No camera enforcement of the Coppergate restrictions is currently taking place.

Cllr Andrew Waller – the new chair of theEconomic & City Development Scrutiny Committee which will consider the report next week – commented:

(more…)

Plea for improvements to cycle paths

With multi million projects providing little used now cycle paths in some arts of the City, residents are beginning to ask why existing facilities are being allowed to deteriorate.

Surfaces are cracking, rusting barriers need a coat of paint while some routes are now completely blocked by overhanging bushes.

The Council needs to get its supervision and maintenance procedures sorted out

Bushes block cycle path

Bushes block cycle path

Cycle barriers need painting

Cycle barriers need painting

Park and Ride compensation claim

The York Council is to seeking liquidated damages for the 5 month delay in completing the park and site and associated highways works at Poppleton.

Weeds2 Park adn Ride siteIt says that the issues will be assessed during the preparation of the final accounts for the scheme which was completed using “using a standard construction contract which includes liquidated damage clauses if the works over run beyond the contract completion date”

The ongoing road works became something of a joke for residents living on the west of the city with deadline after deadline passing without completion.

The roadwork’s were temporarily lifted for the start of the Tour de France but were re-imposed shortly afterwards.

Even the Park and Ride site itself was opened 2 months before necessary landscaping work was completed.

The extent of any compensation likely to be claimed is not yet known.

Residents living near the A59 roundabout are understood to be seeking compensation from the Council for the delays and inconvenience that they suffered

Council abandon cycle hire project

bike hire

The Council’s much hyped plan to introduce a “Boris Bikes” style cycle hire scheme into York has been quietly abandoned.

The Council has realised that such a scheme would lose a lot of money.

A similar (commercial) scheme in the City 10 years ago failed after only a few months.

As was pointed out when the Council scheme was originally proposed, the lack of sustained all year round demand makes such schemes impractical.

The low cost of a new or second hand cycle is such that most regular users will chose to own a bike while tourists and visitors find that the compact nature of the city is more suited to walking.

Several cycle shops do offer hire bikes but these are mainly aimed at visitors wanting to explore the countryside around York. They involve picking up and returning the cycle to a shop.

No speed checks undertaken in Dringhouses and Woodthorpe

The last Council meeting heard confirmation that no vehicle speed checks had been completed in west York since 20 mph signs started to be put up 12 months ago.

Elsewhere checks in the Bishopthorpe Road area have revealed that average vehicle speeds have not changed since the controversial £600,000 programme was introduced there.

In the West York area several examples of unlawful signs have been reported by residents.

Green Lane speed signs 2In Green Lane the speed limit signs indicate different speed limits on each side of the road.

There have been no prosecutions in York for vehicles exceeding the 20 mph limit.

The new Council is expected to abandon wide area 20 mph limits.

Spending taxpayer’s resources on removing the sign though might be considered to be a case of throwing good money after bad.

However if – as has happened elsewhere – accident rates increase in the 20 mph areas then removal may have to be considered.

Landal Bridge – fine refund process not working

Only 5500 motorists have so far applied for repayment of the fines – unlawfully imposed by Labour – on drivers using Lendal Bridge during the closure trial which started in August 2013.

Lendal Man

This represents only a little over 10% of the total penalty notices issued.

Labour have set an arbitrary deadline of the end of December 2014 by which applications for refunds must be made.

The responsible Cabinet member claims not to know where the applications originated and the suspicion remains that tourists and other visitors to the City remain largely unaware that the refunds are available.

As we have said before, the reputational damage to York is irreversible but we believe that the new “balanced” Council must take immediate steps, to write to all these who were fined, telling them about the refund process.

It also seems reasonable to remove the deadline for applications.

With Labour having lost their overall Council majority they will no longer be able to block a public Inquiry into the actions that they took during the Lendal Bridge fiasco

Separately the Council has confirmed that its appeal against a parallel ruling on fines imposed on Coppergate, using similar signage and enforcement methods, has still not been heard.

Currently no enforcement action is taking place of the Coppergate access restrictions.

20’s plenty campaign – private correspondence revealed by Council

Copies of Emails between Councillors and officials in York – exchanged in the run up to the launch of the wide area 20 mph speed limits in west York – have been published by the Council.20 mph sign

The exchange of Emails  can be viewed by clicking here

The project cost £600,000 to implement

The correspondence includes a request from Cllr Anna Semlyen for the use of a police radar speed gun (!)

This was the same Labour Councillor who argued that 20 mph speed limits should be introduced without consultation with residents.

Subsequently, as we now know, the new limits have had no effect on traffic speeds.

York Council wastes £600,000

Labours 20 mph speed limits are not working

20 mph sign

Figures gained from the York Council by the Liberal Democrats under Freedom of information legislation confirm what most had suspected.

The new “signed only”20 mph speed limits have had little effect on vehicle speeds.

In the South Bank area—where the lower limits were introduced 2 years ago—the average speed of vehicles on several roads has actually INCREASED

On Prices Lane average speeds are up from 21 to 23 mph with a similar picture on part of Scarcroft Road (22 to 23 mph)

On most roads the average speed is the same as it was when the limit was set at 30 mph.

This is in line with results from other parts of the country.

Only in relatively narrow terraced streets—and on one section of Bishopthorpe Road itself—has there been a reduction in speeds, but even there it has usually been less than 1 mph.

When leaving the City on Bishopthorpe Road at a point near Rectory Gardens the majority of driver’s are now travelling at 29 mph rather than the 33 recorded before the change to a 20 mph limit.

The Council has declined so far to publish an analysis of accident rates in the new 20 mph areas. However the numbers Killed or Seriously Injured on all York’s roads last year—the first since resources were focused on introducing 20 mph speed limits—increased from the 51, recorded in 2012, to 58.

Tudor Road speed limit confusion click

Tudor Road speed limit confusion click

Local Councillor Ann Reid  said,

“We should set the most appropriate speed limit for each urban road.

People understand 20 zones with speed tables at schools, shops and major crossing points, but there is now a confused mix of 30mph and 20 mph roads around our area.”

The FOI data for South Bank can be downloaded by clicking here

———

Andrew Waller who is the LibDem candidate in the Westfield ward by election on 16th October has produced the following evidence of confusion over speed limits.

“There is no better example, of the muddled way in which the new “wide area” speed limits were introduced, than on Tudor Road. (see pictures above right)

Vehicles approaching from Stuart Road are told that a 30 mph limit is in force.

Meanwhile motorists already on Tudor Road are told that the limit has changed—to 20 mph— about 100 metres before the road junction.

Small wonder that the Police aren’t able to enforce the speed limits and that motorists are confused”