City of York Council, as the local highway authority and under Section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, has the power to grant permission for a vehicle crossing to be constructed, enabling a motorised vehicle to drive over a kerbed footway or verge.
Standard dimensions, as set out in Appendix 19 of the council’s Highways Design Guide
This draft vehicle crossing policy aims to support officer decision making when considering applications for new and improved vehicle crossings. See details of the current process for dropped kerbs applications.
Feedback received through the consultation will then be analysed and a report assessing options and making recommendations for a final policy will be presented to the Executive Member for Transport.
For the past 18 months, Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward councillors have been working with council officers to try to progress a scheme for dropped crossings to be installed at a number of council-owned properties in the Thanet Road area. Progress is proving to be painfully slow (not helped by Covid), but we continue to push for action to improve road safety.
Following on from the re-painting work done late last year, further improvements have been made to bus shelters in Acomb Park and Woodthorpe.
The badly degraded perspex sheets in the shelters on Alness Drive and Moor Lane have been replaced with panels of toughened glass. The previous poor state of the bus shelters meant that people waiting inside often struggled to see through the cloudy perspex to see the bus coming.
Moor LaneAlness Drive
However elsewhere in the ward it is proving a struggle to get basic repairs made to damaged shelters (which are also in need of repainting), such as on Ryecroft Avenue, pictured below.
The winter weather has taken its toll on a number of local roads, where potholes and deteriorating road surfaces present a hazard to all road users.
Local councillors are lobbying the council’s Highways team to fill in the multiple potholes that have appeared on Alness Drive after an initial response stated ‘no action required.’ Some potholes have since been marked for repair, but others have not.
Alness Drive potholes
It is a similar story on Moor Lane between Cairnborrow and Eden Close, where there has been a dramatic deterioration in the road surface over recent months. As well as potholes, large sections of the highway previously ‘surface dressed’ have crumbled, leading to a thick layer of debris accumulating by the kerbside. This poses a particular hazard for cyclists.
Moor Lane potholes and crumbling road surfaces
Councillors will continue to undertake regular inspections of roads and footpaths and report repairs where they are needed. We would encourage residents to notify us of any we may have missed.
First York has announced changes to some aspects of the operation of the number 3 Askham Bar Park & Ride service from Sunday 17 January.
The changes have been prompted by the use of part of the Park & Ride site to support the operation of the COVID vaccination centre located at the former Park & Ride site.
Buses will no longer leave the Park & Ride site via the bus-only road but will instead enter and leave via the Askham Bar entrance/exit towards Tadcaster Road (see the red line on the map). This will not affect where you board the bus from. On journeys towards Askham Bar, services will stop at the Moor Lane Car Park (red ‘X’ near the top of the map) instead of the Tesco Car Park.
Network Rail have announced plans for engineering work to be carried out on the railway as it passes through Dringhouses on 13 and 20 December, and 25 December to 27 December.
The work, which will take place during the day and night, is to survey and adjust the existing overhead line equipment, as part of the electrification of the line from York to Church Fenton.
Members of the community are invited to attend an online information session from 18:30 to 19:30 on Thursday 10 December. Members of the project team will be there to explain the work in more detail and answer any questions. To join the meeting on Thursday, please click HERE
The work will require the use hand tools and track access platforms. Steps will be taken to avoid noise, but this may still produce a level of noise disturbance for those who live close to the railway. Much of this work can only be carried out when the line is closed over the Christmas period, hence the timing.
Network Rail have produced a ‘Work Tracker’ newsletter, which explains more about the work being done along the line. It can be downloaded HERE
A number of bus shelters around Dringhouses & Woodthorpe are getting a much needed revamp.
Shelters are being rubbed down and given a fresh coat of paint. The perspex panels at some shelters – such as on Moor Lane near the junction with Moorcroft Road – are being replaced. This will hopefully make it easier for people inside the shelter to see the bus coming!
City of York Council has set out a timetable for work to invest £5m on Tadcaster Road, following the award of the funding from the Department of Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund.
The funding will enable to council to improve large sections of drainage along the route which will reduce localised surface water flooding. The work will include the delivery of additional pedestrian crossings and will ensure the road is maintenance free for the next 10 years.
Road works are returning to Tadcaster Road
Local councillors have for some time been pressing for a pedestrian refuge to be installed on Tadcaster Road near to the junction with Nelsons Lane to enable residents alighting the bus to be able to cross the road safely. It is hoped that this scheme will now be delivered as part of these works.
During the council’s liaison with the major utility companies to co-ordinate future work, it became apparent that Northern Gas Networks (NGN), were due to carry out major work in 2023. They have brought this work forward to October 2020 to ensure that disruption for residents and commuters is minimised. The council works are then scheduled to start in January 2021.
The council could have made NGN wait for three years before digging up the road, but that would have led to longer term issues of the road surface once again becoming a ‘patchwork’ of reinstatements. By bringing the NGN work forward, there is the opportunity to undertake proper reinstatement as part of the wider package of work.
The council has published some FAQs, set out below, which address questions and concerns that residents may have, such as why the NGN work is being done so soon after a section of Tadcaster Road was resurfaced.
Q. Wasn’t part of Tadcaster Road resurfaced earlier this year? A. Yes. The council bid to Government for a scheme on Tadcaster Road but received confirmation in March that it was unsuccessful and would not receive funding. Therefore the council resurfaced a section of Tadcaster Road as it was in need of urgent repairs between The Horseshoe and St Aubyns Place.
However, in June the council was then awarded the £5million funding to improve large sections of drainage along Tadcaster Road which will reduce the risk of localised surface water flooding.
Northern Gas Networks recently informed the council they have plans to carry out major works to their service at Tadcaster Road by 2025. The council was not made aware of these works before the section of Tadcaster Road between The Horseshoe and St Aubyns Place was resurfaced earlier this year.
Whilst it is not an ideal situation, the council would rather sacrifice a small part of the works that have been undertaken already rather than risk the digging up of the major £5 million scheme in a few years’ time for the Northern Gas Networks scheme.
The council and Northern Gas Networks have agreed to coordinate their programmes of works for the benefit of the larger Tadcaster Road scheme.
This coordination of works will see Northern Gas Networks advance their programme for delivery in 2020. The utility repair works will be carried out on the inbound carriageway only from 10 October for 16-20 weeks. As these works will affect 50% the recently surfaced road, the council will resurface this affected section again by recycling the material onsite. The council is planning to commence the drainage works in January 2021 followed by highways works and road resurfacing, these works are expected to take up to 9 months to complete.
Full details will be communicated in advance of the works, including letters to residents and businesses.
Pedestrian access will be permitted and maintained at all times, but vehicle access may be prohibited at times with traffic management (traffic lights). Everything possible will be done to keep this distribution to a minimum.
Q. Where are the works happening? A. The current scope of the £5m Highways maintenance works includes the full stretch of Tadcaster Road.
A full assessment of the road’s condition will be carried out in advance. This will help to determine the full details of the works including in addition to the resurfacing and drainage works, is if there is capacity to look at additional crossing points as well as improvements to the crossing points, footway or cycle routes, for example.
Q. Why are we doing it? A. There are serious defects we could not address without the significant level of funding from DFT, these include the road surface and drainage network, so this scheme will improve the quality of the overall highway. There are currently 35 non-running gullies and several hundred metres of un-mapped drainage, meaning this route particularly suffers during times of heavy rain and localised surface water flooding. The proposed scheme would deliver remediation measures to the road’s drainage, ensure its resurfacing is fit-for-purpose and can continue to meet the needs of its cycling users and support the local economy and the wider area.
Q. What is the impact on traffic during the works? A. A traffic management plan will be created in advance, alongside NGN, and communicated to residents and businesses. These works will be delivered under lane closures and traffic lights, which will be monitored closely on site by traffic marshals. Journey times may be affected, however we will be doing everything we can to keep this to a minimum.
Q. What will happen to public transport and buses? A. Residents and visitors are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for journeys on these routes which will be busier than normal and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible. Bus services will generally be operating as normal for the majority of the works, as per national social distancing rules.
Q. Will I still be able to cross the road? A. Temporary crossing points will be available at all times during the works to ensure that all pedestrian crossings that are currently available are maintained. Traffic marshals will be on site to assist with pedestrians crossing the road.
Q. Will I still be able to access shops, cafe/restaurants in the area? A. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times. We will be engaging with traders and businesses in the area to help promote the “open as usual” message. Vehicular access for deliveries will be maintained.
Q. What if I live or work in the area? A. Access to all properties and businesses will be retained at all times. Traffic marshals will be on hand to assist if vehicle access is prohibited at certain times.
Q. What about alternative travel plans? A. Residents and visitors are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for journeys on these routes and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible. Bus services will generally be operating as normal for the majority of the works but passengers are requested to visit www.itravelyork.info for more information.
Residents are being encouraged to have their say on pavement parking as part of a Government consultation.
Local councillors increasingly receive complaints from residents who find themselves having to walk in the road due to vehicles being parked on the footpath unnecessarily. This is a particular problem for anyone pushing a pram or buggy, for wheelchair users and for people who are blind or partially sighted.
No way through
The Government consultation on pavement parking is open until 22 November, and details can be found HERE
In summary, the Government wants to gauge the degree of support for ongoing work to improve the Traffic Regulation Order process as a means to tackle pavement parking where it is a problem. It is also inviting views on alternative approaches, with two specific options outlined. These are:
legislative change to allow local authorities with civil parking enforcement (CPE) powers to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction of the pavement’, or;
legislative change to introduce a London-style pavement parking prohibition throughout England.
The Government is also inviting any alternative proposals for managing pavement parking.
A mobility scooter would struggle to get past this van
There are existing statutes and regulations which allow proceedings to be brought by the Police under criminal law for situations where parking on the pavement, in such a way as to cause obstruction, is deemed to be avoidable. These include section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, as amended; for wilfully obstructing the free passage along a highway. Local authorities are currently unable to enforce against obstruction using their civil parking enforcement powers.
City of York Council would like to hear from any blue badge holders and less mobile people who have been affected by the increased pedestrianisation in York city centre.
Join the online workshop on Wednesday 23 September 2-4pm to explore:
– the challenges (what works / doesn’t work)
– understand the range of people’s needs
– ideas for improvements around accessibility and footstreets
If you are unable to join the workshop then you can complete an online survey at www.york.gov.uk/OBCAccess by 28 September or you can find a paper survey in the September edition of the council’s ‘Our City’ publication.
At a Transport Executive Member Decision Session held on 21 July, a number of parking restrictions in Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward were approved. A recording of the public meeting is available to watch on YouTube HERE (it is agenda item 5, Annex C).
The meeting discussed a set of recommendations provided by officers, which were all accepted. These were:
– Double yellow lines to be installed on a stretch of Moorcroft Road between the GP surgery and number 34
– Double yellow lines to be installed on the corner of White House Gardens and Pulleyn Drive
– Double yellow lines to be installed on the slip road from Yorkcraft to the Askham Bar roundabout
The double yellow lines that were advertised for North Lane will not be installed. Instead, the recommendation was approved for a white ‘H-Bar’ marking to be installed on the road opposite the entrance to the private driveway leading to four properties.
