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.

Lendal bridge after its clsure

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.

Lendal Bridge signs

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

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 6th 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

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 27th 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

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 27th 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

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.
Dijon Avenue Green Lane junction small 3

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.

Lendal Bridge

As we predicted when the “trial” started the Council intends to continue the restrictions on access to Lendal Bridge for an indefinite period.

There is no item in the Councils forward programme of meeting topics so a decision before June is unlikely.

The latest figures on the Council web site show that most Park and Ride bus services are talking longer to complete their journeys. No data has been produced for other bus services.

No information on bus passenger numbers has been published although total passenger journeys in 2013 showed a further reduction on 2012.

The number of shoppers in the City centre has reduced

Other road users – particularly those living near the city centre – have found journey times doubling.

Meanwhile over 60,000 motorists have been fined on Lendal and Coppergate. Many of these have been visitors who have vowed never to return to the City.

Labour Councillors have now stepped up their campaign of misinformation.

They say that there were forecasts of gridlock. Few said this because (between 10:00am and 4:30pm) there is spare capacity on most of the highways network in York for most of the week.

Some predicted traffic chaos in some circumstances such as poor weather conditions. In a generally mild winter, they were proved right.

Labour have claimed that the LibDems included in their 2011 Local Transport Plan proposals to close Lendal bridge. Actually the reference was to a trial closure of Ouse Bridge (which has many more bus services using it and which does not form part of the ring road). But this would only have happened after proper consultation.

Labour claim that “traffic congestion will increase three fold in 10 years“.

But their transport spokesman made the same claims a decade ago and, of course, it hasn’t happened. Drivers have found different ways of getting to their destinations and at different times of the day.

They don’t rush lemming like to the nearest traffic jam.

Congestion levels in York have been fairly stable now since 1998.

It would be a strange Council that argued that “something has to be done“, then promptly decided on a course of action that actually makes things worse for the majority of travellers.

Reopen Lendal Bridge Now!

Anger grows over 20 mph speed limits

Dringhouses Labour Councillor opposes consultation with residents.

A Labour Councillor has claimed in the media that residents should not be consulted over wide area 20 mph speed limits. She says that most residents are in favour of the scheme.

Dijon Avenue Green Lane junction small 3

The claim comes at a time when some residents are reacting angrily to having expensive sign erected on short cul de sacs where it is impossible to reach even 15 mph.

In some areas signs have already been vandalised.

The Councillors comment can only inflame public opinion and fail to acknowledge that in much area where the new limits have been imposed the number of accidents recorded has actually increased.

The new Council, which will be elected in 2015, will have the unenviable job of deciding whether to throw good money after bad and have the signs removed.

Common sense says that the programme should be suspended. This would potentially save around £200,000 – only which could be spent on targeted accident prevention work.

The results of the new limits already rolled out in west York could then be assessed before the policy is thoroughly reviewed.

NB. In a poll of all residents living in the Westfield and Dringhouses wards, only 5% of respondents said that they favoured a “wide area” 20 mph speed limit.