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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York visitor numbers show small increase

increase-footfall-retail

Continuing mild weather, and a recovering economy, boosted visitor numbers in York City centre by 3% during February compared to the same month in 2013.

Although the increase is less than is being experience in similar High Streets elsewhere in the country, no doubt tourism chiefs will point to the success of special events such as the Viking Festival as part of the explanation for the reversal in fortunes.

The modest increase is unlikely to be enough to deflect criticism from the unpopular Lendal bridge closure which continues to dog the reputation of York City centre.

Huge increases in car parking charges – which are scheduled to be introduced later in the spring when York residents will lose their “Minster badge” discounts – are another cause for apprehension.

The first Saturday in March saw 38,882 visitors recorded on the Parliament Street footfall cameras.

This compared to 50,054 on the equivalent Saturday last year.

The full footfall figures can be seen by clicking here.

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!

Lendal Bridge closure poll – Council trying to manipulate public opinion?

Lendal bridge - always been busy at 5;00pm

Lendal bridge – always been busy at 5;00pm

The Council are reminding everyone that they need to complete an “on line” survey to make their views known on the Lendal Bridge “trial”.

So far the Council have refused to release details of the results from the original questionnaire which had been available on their web site since last October.

Some of the questions have now been changed, so the intention clearly is to begin again and total the responses from a new (much later) base date.

Many who have completed the old survey may not know that they now need to update their answers.

You can access the Council form by clicking here

It takes about 3 minutes to complete.

Meanwhile the independent survey being conducted by the Liberal Democrats in west York is still showing that 88% believe that the Lendal bridge access restrictions should be lifted.

5% want the restrictions to continue and 7% remain undecided.

Lendal Bridge/Coppergate camera fine victims now exceed 60,000.

Lendal bridge notice60,414 drivers have been issued with penalty notices for driving on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate since new restrictions were introduced in August.

Of these 46,323 were caught by cameras on Lendal Bridge while 14,091 were photographed on Coppergate.

The numbers being caught in both locations increased towards the end of January.

The complete figures can be downloaded by clicking here.

Meanwhile the media are reporting that the Council has received £1.3 in fine income.

As suggested on this site some months ago, it appears that the Council lacks the resources – and perhaps the will – to resist many of the appeals that have been lodged.

The Lendal Bridge 5 monthly monitoring report has also now been published. Click here.

With less traffic in January, Park and Ride buses show little change in their journey times.

Traffic volumes are, however, up on Foss Islands Road, Water End, Shipton Road and Fulford Road.

The Lendal Bridge trial is scheduled to conclude at the end of February.

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Labour Councillors agreed tonight (Tuesday) to extend the use of the ANPR cameras to other routes including bus lanes.

It expects to bring in an additional £150,000 a year in fine income.

Latest City centre shopper numbers – Lendal Bridge trial could go on and on and on

 

The Council has issued the latest City centre footfall figures.

The figures show more people visited Parliament Street during December and January this winter than in the equivalent period 12 months ago.

increase-footfall-retail

However compared to 2012, numbers are down by 9%.

The decline in shopper numbers is likely to have been influenced by the Councils decision to impose substantial car parking charge increases.

It appears that the “free” car parking day on Saturday did not produce the hoped for increases in footfall.

The numbers monitored on Saturday (1st Feb 2014) was 31,974 compared to the busiest Saturdays in the two previous years when 37,137 (2nd Feb 13) and 40,951 (28th Jan 12) people respectively were recorded on Parliament Street.

The full figures can be found here.

Meanwhile the Council leaflet, issued to residents, which talked about “Reinvigorating York” has been branded as misleading.

City centre paving consultation

The York Council is delivering a leaflet to all households outlining its plans for resurfacing works in the City centre.

Exhibition Square plans

Exhibition Square plans

They are right to do so but, in pointing to improvements planned for Exhibition Square, Blake Street and Fossgate, they lamentably fail to answer the question that will be on every taxpayer’s lips.

How much will these paving schemes cost?

There is little new in the leaflet.  The Labour Council changed the Council’s forward programme in 2011 putting the modernisation of Kings Square ahead of the Fossgate pedestrianisation scheme which had been set to go ahead in 2012.

Next in line were to have been improvements to Duncombe Place, which could have provided a large and useful pedestrian precinct.

But the Councils increasing financial problems meant that progress would inevitably have slowed.

Residents might usefully have been asked when completing the “on line” survey whether they want any of these schemes to go ahead or whether the money might be better spent repairing the roads in sub-urban areas?

The danger in the Councils approach is that the improvement of the City centre may become politically toxic.

Against a background of plans for a further £1 million cut in road maintenance in sub-urban areas, residents are likely to demand of Council candidates – at the next local elections in 2015 – a commitment to improving public service standards in residential areas.

The City centre may find that its share of available resources is reduced.

Shopper numbers down 10% in City Centre.

285,000 fewer people have visited the Parliament Street area since new traffic restrictions introduced in August.

Shambles empty
The number of visitors to the City has dropped dramatically since the new restrictions were introduced on Coppergate and on Lendal Bridge.

The latest figures have been released by the York Council following a Freedom of Information request

In total, footfall cameras on Parliament Street recorded 2.695 million people between 1st August and the start of the St Nicholas Fayre on 28th November.

The equivalent figure for 2012 was 2.980 million, a fall of 10%.

Figures recovered over the 4 days of the St Nicholas Fayre although the concentration of footfall may have been influenced by the positioning of the market.

The figures are even more disappointing given the relatively good weather that we have experienced so far this autumn.

They confirm that the new restrictions are having a major adverse effect on the economic viability of many retailers in the City centre.

The Council has previously resisted calls for the restrictions to be suspended at least until the busy pre Christmas period is over.

  • The detailed figures are:
  • August 746,340 visitors (780,646 in 2012 – 4%)
  • September 699,042 (798,182 – 12%)
  • October 717,634 (775,144 – 7%)
  • November 532,157 (646,226 -18%) to start of St Nicholas Fayre on 28th November

By contrast, in the first 7 months of the year, visitor numbers had fallen by a total of 5% with the decrease being blamed on a large increase in car parking charges.

A spreadsheet showing individual figures for each day can be found by clicking here.

A Council survey on residents and visitors reactions to the traffic restrictions can be found here

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lendalsurvey