Lendal Bridge and Coppergate traffic restrictions – York Council acted unlawfully

Call for resignations at Council

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for York’s Labour Council it has.

Reports are coming in that the governments independent adjudicator has ruled that fines issued using ANPR cameras on both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate are unenforceable.

The consequences for the Council which has raised around £1 million from fines levied in both locations are likely to be far reaching. Any driver who chooses to appeal against the fine is now likely to have the charge refunded.

In some cases the Adjudicator has the power to order the Council to pay the appellants costs.

In the main, the adjudicator has criticised the signage used to advertise both orders.

He also concludes that Lendal Bridge could not reasonably be regarded as a “bus lane” given the number of exemptions given by the Council.

We have said all along that the Council closed the wrong bridge, in the wrong year and using the wrong method of enforcement.

They compounded their mistakes by failing to consult properly and by relying on inadequate signage.

The Cabinet members with responsibility for the scheme should now resign.

The ANPR cameras should be switched off immediately.

A more measured approach to improving transport systems in York in the future is required.

The full test case adjudication result can be downloaded by clicking here

Labour vote to retain Lendal Bridge access restrictions

Labour Councillors have refused to debate reopening Lendal Bridge at tonight’s York Council meeting.

Instead they narrowly voted to refer any decision to the Labour Cabinet.

No discussion on the LibDem motion was allowed by the Lord Mayor, as filibustering tactics were used by Labour to prevent opposition Councillors from putting the case for the ANPR cameras to be switched off immediately.

It is now likely to be at least another 2 months before the issue is resolved, although suspicions are growing that Labour have already decided, privately, to make the access restrictions permanent.

Crunch York meeting on Lendal Bridge restrictions

York’s Lendal Bridge could be reopened* by the weekend if Liberal Democrat calls are supported at a crunch meeting on Thursday.

Labour run City of York Council’s controversial six month trial closure was due to end in February, but they have extended the restrictions until May as they are yet to make a decision on whether the bridge should stay closed.

Figures released by the Council last week revealed that 53,000 motorists have now been fined for crossing Lendal Bridge, congestion in areas such as Foss Islands Road and Clifton Bridge has worsened, and most Park & Ride journey times in the city have increased.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, will move a motion at Thursday’s Full Council meeting calling on the closure restrictions to be lifted. She commented:

“Our motion calls on Labour to stop dithering, lift the restrictions, and reopen Lendal Bridge. If they and other political groups back our calls on Thursday then there is no reason why the cameras can’t be switched off and signs removed by this weekend.

“The latest figures show that the trial is still hitting residents and local businesses with congestion worsening across York and bus times actually increasing. The evidence that this was a botched trial couldn’t be clearer.

“With 80% of fines going to visitors – we also know the ongoing reputational damage Labour’s closure is having on our city. York cannot afford another two months of this mess.”

The full motion which will be moved by the Lib Dems at Thursday’s Full Council (in York’s Guildhall at 6:30pm) reads:
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80% of fines from Lendal Bridge restrictions paid by visitors

A freedom of information response from the York Council has revealed that the vast majority of fines issued to drivers using Lendal Bridge are to vehicles registered outside the York area.

Around 80% of the PCNs issued arrive on visitors doormats.

As hinted at by some correspondents on this web site, the Council has been unable to sustain the fines if appeals are lodged and then pursued as far as a tribunal.

11,578 (24%) of PCNs issued have attracted appeals

The Council says that 8087 (17%) of PCNs “have been cancelled following representations and for other reasons”.

The figures confirm that the signage used to indicate the restrictions on bridge access are hopelessly inadequate.

They will help to underpin the motion to next weeks York Council meeting from Cllr Ann Reid who will ask for the ANPR cameras to be switched off immediately.

The full motion reads:
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Lendal Bridge – more stats creep out

Lendal Bridge

Following yesterdays Lendal Bridge story – in which we revealed that the York Council had failed to live up to its promise to publish monthly monitoring reports – the statistics for period 6 (February) have now appeared on their web site.

A total of 53,605 drivers had been fined for crossing Lendal Bridge during restricted hours by the end of February.

In addition 15,907 fines had been issued on Coppergate.

The full figures can be downloaded from here

Meanwhile other monitoring data can be found by clicking here.

Most Park and Ride journeys are taking longer with the number 2 service for Rawcliffe via Leeman Road the worst affected showing an increase in journey time of around 2 minutes.

Traffic volumes are up on Clifton Bridge, Foss Islands Road, Shipton Road and Malton Road.

Not surprisingly, Clifton Bridge is worst affected (+167 vehicle movements)

Lendal Bridge – the saga continues

According to information released by the Council yesterday a decision on the future of the access restrictions on Lendal Bridge will be taken at a meeting being held on 6^th May.

However many items on the Councils Forward Programme of decision debates are subsequently put back – some indefinitely.

The Council’s web site has been very “flaky” over the last few weeks with many residents complaining about difficulty in accessing the background papers for meetings with some pages simply “freezing” for long periods of time.

Lendal Bridge in 1868, five years after it was first opened. To pay for the costs of constructing the bridge, a toll of two pence per (horse drawn) vehicle was charged until 1894. A £60 charge was reintroduced by York’s Labour Council in August 2014

However the Council has so far failed to supply the month 6 progress report on their web site. This was information that they promised to regularly update.

Some may think that this suggest some “cleansing” of the data is already underway.

Nor have the Council published the results of its survey of residents opinion or details of the “public opinion poll” which they announced earlier in the month

The first debate and vote on the future of Lendal bridge will come at the Council meeting taking place on Thursday 27^th March. The Liberal Democrats will propose that the ANPR cameras are switched off immediately.

They will also be pressing Cllr Merrett to answer thee question that he evaded at the Council meeting held in December.

The question asks for information on,

“a) The number of appeals lodged each week since the beginning of August against PCNs issued for contraventions of traffic restrictions on Coppergate and Lendal Bridge

b) The number of appeals which have been successful each week

c) The total revenue that the Council has received so far from PCNs following the introduction of the new restrictions on Coppergate and Lendal Bridge

d) The weekly changes to journey times (all modes of transport) on each arterial road and on each section of the inner ring road since the introduction of the new traffic restrictions

e) The numbers of accidents reported on roads in the City centre comparing the last 6 months with the equivalent period in 2012/13

a) The latest air quality monitoring reports for key sites in and close to the City centre, including the Leeman Road area, and comparing these with last year?”

LibDems call for Lendal Bridge to be reopened

Simon Hughes MP and Cllr Keith Aspden

York Liberal Democrats will formally call for Lendal Bridge to reopen at a council meeting later this month.

The council’s six month trial closure was due to end on the 27^th February, but Labour have extended the restrictions indefinitely as they are yet to make a decision on whether the bridge should reopen.

Since the closure started in August over 45,000 motorists have been fined for crossing the bridge and the trial has been attacked by businesses, residents and tourist groups. The latest figures show that traffic levels on Foss Islands Road and Water End at Clifton Bridge have increased while the trial has failed to improve overall bus times or air quality.

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New pedestrian crossing for Heslington

The York Council is considering installing a new pedestrian crossing on University Road in Heslington.

The have been four injury accidents on the road in recent years.

The scheme could cost £70,000 and also involves introducing a 20 mph speed limit.

The Council has so far not revealed why this area is apparently being omitted from its wide area speed limit plan for the eats of York.

The University is also going to invest around £150,000 in off carriageway works some of which may encourage students to use a footbridge to cross the road.

Details of the plan can be found by clicking here

Click for detail

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.

Bill for 20 mph signs reaches £238,000

Since Labour took office, they have introduced 20 mph speed limit signs on an additional 11 miles of roads in South Bank and another 44 miles in west York.

947, 20 mph signs, have so far been installed with a further 1752 still to be put up – mainly in east York

Where the roads revert to a 30 mph limit, new signs have also to be installed.

So far 280 additional 30 mph signs have been installed with a further 587 still to be fitted.

So far the Council has spent over £52,000 on signs, paid out £40,000 in fixing costs with management costs accounting for a whopping £120,000 (planning, project management, professional fees).

Adding in miscellaneous expenditure, the total comes to £238,000.

A further £350,000 has yet to be committed to the programme which will roll out next in east York.

The programme should have been suspended for at least a year to allow the effects, that the new limits so far introduced have had, to be assessed.

In other parts of the country the introduction of 20 mph limits has coincided with an increase in accident levels.

NB Last week a Labour Councillor said that people shouldn’t be consulted on the introduction of 20 mph speed limits.

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Cllr Stephen Fenton, Cllr Ashley Mason & Cllr Paula Widdowson

Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Liberal Democrats