Traffic misery as A64 road works overrun

Highways England have admitted that the overnight closures of the A64 at the Bishopthorpe Bridge are set to continue into July, meaning further disruption for residents of Tadcaster Road as traffic is diverted off the A64 and through the city centre. Highways England had previously said that the works should be completed by the end of May.

A64 diversion sign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complaints by residents about HGVs travelling at speed along Tadcaster Road through the night prompted Cllr Stephen Fenton to request information from Highways England on when the works would finish. Stephen was told that the slippage was due to “a number of reasons including the need for additional drilling works to fix the new barriers on the bridge.”

Stephen commented  “It is disappointing that the works are over-running, and that information about the slippage of the expected completion date wasn’t proactively communicated to residents or local councillors by Highways England.”

Through traffic on the A64 is meant to be diverted onto the A1237 northern ring road, but the signs on the A64 are very near to the turn off for the A1237. Stephen has asked for some signs to be installed back towards Tadcaster, to give HGVs and other through traffic more notice and reduce the likelihood of them all ending up on Tadcaster Road.

The photograph below was taken at 8.30pm on Friday 3rd June, showing traffic backed up on Tadcaster Road almost all the way back to the Askham Bar roundabout.

Tad Rd traffic

 

 

A64 roadworks get underway, diversions kick in

Roadworks on the A64 being undertaken by the Highways Agency, which will lead to night time diversion of traffic for periods of time from January until May, get underway on Monday 4th January. A press release has been issued to announce the start of the work – see   http://tinyurl.com/A64-works

Road closedThe roadworks will start with replacement of the safety barriers on the bridge that runs over the River Ouse at Bishopthorpe. The A64 will be closed in both directions for five nights to install narrow lanes and protective barriers as part of the scheme.  The A64 will then be closed again towards the end of February for three nights to remove the protective barriers.

From the end of March, work will start on replacing the main expansion joint on the eastbound carriageway. This work will be carried out overnight and will require full overnight closure of the eastbound carriageway between 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday. The project is due to be completed in May.

When the night time road closures are in effect, local eastbound traffic will be diverted off the A64 up Tadcaster Road and then onto The Mount, Blossom Street and Nunnery Lane before going over the river and onto Fishergate and then onto the A19 through Fulford before rejoining the A64.

We understand that there will be diversion signs on the A64 at the A1237 junction (northern by pass) indicating that the A64 is closed ahead and the A1237 should be used for through trips, for example traffic heading to Malton and the east coast. This should hopefully remove a proportion of traffic that would otherwise end up being diverted up Tadcaster Road.

We would have liked to have been able to let local residents know about the Tadcaster Road diversion plans via our December FOCUS newsletter, but unfortunately we were not given advance notice of the plans.

So, in summary, our understanding is that the night time diversion of traffic from the A64 will be in effect as follows:

  • Monday 4th to Friday 8th January inclusive
  • At the end of February for three nights
  • From the end of March until sometime in May

Fulford interchange closure next week

Works to resurface the A64 / A19 interchange, which supports the £2 million Department for Transport funded Pinch Point scheme in the area, will start next week.

A19 pinch point

A19 pinch point

The A64 / A19 Fulford interchange will be resurfaced over four consecutive nights from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 September, with full road closures between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

All traffic diversions will be clearly signed in the area and are as follows:
• North and south traffic on the A19: will be able to continue through the A64 junction using a single lane and working with traffic light control.

• Southbound (towards Selby) A19 traffic wishing to travel east on the A64: will not be affected as the A64 slip road will continue to be open.

• Southbound (towards Selby) A19 traffic wishing to travel west on the A64: will need to be diverted initially eastbound on the A64 via Grimston Bar to enable them to return westbound.

• Northbound (towards York) A19 traffic wishing to travel both east and west on the A64: traffic from the south (Selby) wishing to travel on the A64 (in either direction) will be diverted via the inner ring road and Hull Road A1079.

• A64 traffic wishing to use the A19: No direct access to the A19 at the A64/A19 junction. Traffic will be diverted via either Tadcaster Road A1036 or Hull Road A1079 and the inner ring.

• A64 East-west traffic: east – west traffic on the A64 will not be affected.

• Designer Outlet and Park&Ride: Works will be outside of the Designer Outlet’s opening times, so there will be minimum impact on access to and from the shopping centre. P&R services will not be affected. Patrons and staff leaving the Designer Outlet after 8pm will need to exit via Naburn Lane as St. Nicholas Avenue will be closed after this time.

• Buses: Two routes will be slightly affected, including the 415 service timetabled to leave the Designer Outlet at 9.15pm to York and 9.50pm to Selby. Passengers will need to walk to the stops on A19 Selby Road or A19 near Lingcroft Lane (Persimmon).

Motorists travelling during the hours of the works should expect delays and are advised to plan their journey accordingly. For travel advice visit www.itravelyork.info

Full FAQs and plans of the Pinch Point scheme are available to view at: www.york.gov.uk/A19pinchpoint

The scheme is supported through approximately £2million Department for Transport funding, which City of York Council successfully bid for and secured from a share of a £170 million Government Pinch Point Fund in 2013.

The £2 million funding contributes towards the cost of the £4.7m overall project in this area which will help towards supporting local transport schemes that tackle congestion and support growth.

Hopgrove junction to get another upgrade

 

Today’s government announcements on major improvements to the road network will attract mixed reactions in York.Hopgrove roundabout copy

Included is a pledge to “grade separate” the Hopgrove A1237/A64 junction. This means that fly-overs will replace the roundabout (which was itself subject to an £9 million upgrade only 5 years ago).

However, those hoping for the A1237 to be dualled will be disappointed and traffic, at busy times, having avoided the Hopgrove bottleneck, will immediately face continuing congestion on the remainder of the A64 trip to the coast.

Hopes for the A1237 seem to rest on the devolved funding made available to the, increasingly aloof, Leeds based “West Yorkshire Combined Authority”.

Reports last week suggested that funding for larger roundabouts is the extent of their ambitions.