Executive Member for Transport Decision Session 13/12/22

TSAR- YK2237: Malton Road / New Lane.

Annex E – Consultation Response

This list shows the extents of the external consultation undertaken for the Malton Road / New Lane Scheme. An internal consultation across multiple CYC services was also conducted with local ward councillors for Heworth, Heworth Without, and Huntington & New Earswick wards and the Parish Councils of Huntington and Heworth included.

Connexions Buses

Arriva Buses

Pullman Buses

Stephensons of Easingwold

Transdev

Sustrans

Reliance Buses

First Group

Harrogate Coach

Ghost Bus Tours

Glenn Coaches

East Yorkshire Motor Services

North Yorkshire Police

NHS

North Yorkshire Fire Service

Age UK

York Blind and Partially Sighted Society

Be independent

Resource Centre for Deafened People York

Walk York

York Environmental Forum Transport Group

York Assembly

York Archaeological Trust

York Cycling Campaign

York Civic Trust

York Environment Forum

York People First

Visit York

Huntington Parish Council

A copy of the consultation text is included below. The drawings referred to in this consultation can be found at Annex A to D of this report.

Consultation 1 08/07/22 – 25/07/22

TSAR Consultation: YK2237: Malton Road / New Lane.

Good Morning,

As part of the Traffic Signal Asset Renewal (TSAR) programme City of York Council are looking to refurbish the traffic signal controlled junction of Malton Road / New Lane.

The main changes proposed at this site are as follows:

· Full refurbishment of the traffic signal equipment and introduction of a new traffic signal controller to allow remote access of the equipment.

· Introduction of Near Side Red/Green Man Toucan Crossing technology

· Tactile paving brought up to recommended guidance and audible crossing alert included.

· Kerblines built out on the mouth of New Lane to provide additional footway/cycle way space at the Toucan Crossing

· Removal of the existing carriageway island across New Lane

· Removal of the dedicated left turn flare lane entering the junction from New Lane. Centre line relocated to provide 2 x 3.2m lanes and establishment of a new mandatory northbound 1.6m wide cycle lane on New Lane linking existing cycle lane provision on Malton Road and the on carriageway cycle lane 120m north of the junction.

· New Cycle slip provision from Malton Road into New Lane to join this new cycle lane.

· New cycle off slip provision from New Lane into the shared use area around the Toucan Crossing to allow cyclists to use the Toucan or proceed eastbound using the off carriageway cycle way on Malton Road.

· Extended cycle on/off slip provision for cyclists wishing to join the off carriageway cycleway provision heading westbound along Malton Road.

· Application of Green surface markings over the entry points to residential properties on Malton Road and a commercial property on New Lane.

I would appreciate if you could review the drawing attached and send any comments to the TSAR mailbox (tsar@york.gov.uk) by the 25^th July 2022. All feedback received will be included in the next stage of the decision making process for the proposed scheme. If you have any questions on the proposal please do get in touch.

Summary of Consultation Replies

1. Cllr N. Ayre – Heworth Without

I know my colleagues will contact you regarding the issues from their ward perspective but from a Heworth Without perspective I cannot support the proposals as out lined and would object.

As a simple maxim with any solution it is best to first consider what problem is trying to be solved and I’m not sure what is here. As someone who uses this route frequently as pedestrian cyclist and motorist there are a number of issues

a) Heading eastbound on Malton Road from the Southside there is no crossing route for pedestrians or cyclists wishing to use New Lane. The bulk of people heading in this direction will use the foot/cycle path from the junction of straylands grove/woodlands grove across to Malton Road. From here to safely get to New Lane the option is to either travel 100m in the wrong direction to the crossing at Elmfield Terrace and then double back along Malton Road on the Northern side (a 200m detour)/to continue Eastbound to the New Lane junction and attempt to cross at some point along the way or at the junction itself with no island or refuge/to continue past New Lane to the signal crossing to the east of the junction and then double back to get through the lights a second time

b) The left turn from Malton Road into New Lane for cyclists – currently cyclists have the option to wait at the lights or continue off road to the junction itself. The issue with the second option is the narrowness of the bend if any pedestrians are heading in the opposite direction and that the cycle route dumps you back onto the road at a time when traffic is turning into New Lane from either Eastbound or Westbound

c) The right turn from New Lane onto southern Malton Road off road route encourages cyclists to head in an unnatural direction to access the off road cycle path. (rather than left or right it is a kind of straight on.

In terms of the proposal nothing improves problem a) which for me is the most significant of the three. In terms of issue b) it is to me taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The highway is hugely overgrown and it is unclear what capacity there is on the existing highway. Following the hypocratic principle first do no harm I would suggest this is explored before any major works are undertaken. If any work was to be done the more logical option would be to provide cycle priority turning at the lights on Malton Road (as at Monk Bar and North Street) allowing cyclists in the dedicated cycle area to make the turn before cars are given the green light. This would also be beneficial for the latter problem c) giving cyclists time to clear the cycle box on New Lane and on to the southern off road cycle route without interference from motor vehicles

CYC Engineer Response

The provision of a pedestrian crossing over Malton Road South at the junction is achievable but from the design teams site visits, pedestrian count information and from discussions with the Active Travel officers there didn’t seem there was the demand for it (25 peds counted in a 12 hr period using the existing crossing over Malton Road). If there is a significant pedestrian demand for the crossing then this can be looked at as an alternative option. It has an impact on cost of the junction refurb (£25 – 30K additional likely) but not on capacity / operation. The design team did look at provision of crossing facilities on this arm but discounted it due to the low levels of pedestrian activity and cost.

Cyclists are not encouraged to use the road on Malton Road and off-road facilities are provided. The road is 40mph and from a design point of view we are looking to provide off road cyclist facilities that are safe and useable. The proposal looks to cut back the vegetation to the highway boundary on the Eastern corner, and this certainly would be of benefit, but would not provide enough space to meet best practice in terms of design. The design team can’t see how a safe, useable facility to join the carriageway could be provided without the changes proposed to the kerbline or taking third party land (something that is outside the scope of this work). The TSAR scheme looks to join up (and improve) cycle facilities moving Northbound on New Lane. The option to change the layout of the junction is indeed costly and would increase delay to traffic at the site however, it does significantly improve facilities for cyclists.

An early cyclist start could be provided to assist cyclists clear the junction from New Lane. Concerns over the effectiveness of a cyclist early start were discussed by the design team as the approach has no dedicated cycle lane and so cyclists may struggle to filter through traffic to be at the front of the queue for when the signals change to green. Cost of this would be in the order of £2K.

2. Cllr K. Orrell – Huntington & New Earswick

The removal of the left turn from New Lane to Malton Road would have an impact on car emissions at this junction. There are already occasions when there is a build-up of traffic on New Lane waiting to join Malton Road. Should the left turn be removed the sequencing of the traffic lights would need to be changed to allow more time for vehicles exiting New Lane which would then mean that the build-up of traffic on Malton Road would be greater leading to increased emissions for local residents and the limited number of waiting cyclists and pedestrians.

For this change to be justified there would need to be a vehicle / cycle / pedestrian count of the usage of this junction. Observations suggest that cycle and pedestrian usage is very low and the existing arrangements for cyclists are not a deterrent to use by cyclists or pedestrians.

We want to improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians in Huntington and New Earswick and have made proposals to enable this to happen but resources have not yet been available.

CYC Engineer Response

The reallocation of carriageway space to cyclists would increase delay and queuing on New Lane for general traffic. Traffic modelling shows that the mean maximum queue on New Lane would increase from approximately 7 to 12 vehicles. The queues on Malton Road saw only small increases (below 10% increase) which are seen as not significant. The modelling shows that the junction would still operate within capacity and that bus journey times on Malton Road would not see any significant increase.

In terms of the issues of emissions the design team does not see that the changes proposed would have a significant impact. The number of receptors is very low (very few houses close to the junction and very few pedestrians / cyclists in the area) and the area has wide open spaces where emissions would be dispersed by prevailing winds. Any increase in emissions would be small compared to the overall levels present in the area and this area isn’t in the AQMA or a known site of concern.

The facilities proposed look to improve the provision for cyclists and provide safe options. The provision of safe facilities is likely to generate additional cyclist trips. New Lane currently has poor provision for cyclist and is seen as a strategic link that could – if improved – be a good cyclist route into Huntington and the Monk’s Cross area.

3. York Cycle Campaign

Thank you for sending this through for the campaign to pass comment on.

We welcome the improvements to the junction which will make it easier for cyclists to navigate, and would suggest these additions to the layout from reviewing the drawing.

· It would be useful to include some wands for at least the first 10-15m of the new northbound cycle lane on New Lane. This will help set the scene of what's to come for drivers, and give cyclists a bit more confidence when making the vertical transition down to road level.

· Add a 'cycles merge left' arrow on the main carriageway at the off slips. This will make it easier to spot the dropped kerb to join the cycle path when riding along the road, which can be particularly hard on a winter's night along here.

· Adding an offslip to join the cycle path from the bus lane when heading in the west-bound direction of Malton Road. It would probably be helpful to add some signage letting cycles heading in this direction know that if they're intending on heading up New Lane, they may be best turning left onto the path to use the crossings.

· If possible increase the depth of path available at the rear of the toucan, particularly on the corner where both toucans meet. This would help reduce conflict with any waiting pedestrians.

CYC Engineer Response

Wands will be considered for use for a short section of the new northbound on road cycle path as part of any detailed design process to be completed

Road markings will be added as part of the detailed design at the cyclist off slips.

There are a number of drive accesses that cyclist could use to join the footway from the carriageway if they want to (one opposite the garage and one directly before the bus gate). Given the low numbers of cyclists that would want to use these facilities the design team does not believe that additional facilities are required.

Consideration for widening the footway between the Toucan Crossing points to the North East of the junction will be included during the detailed design process.

4. Huntington Parish Council

At Huntington parish Councils planning sub-committee meeting on 27/07/22, the committee discussed this proposal, and whilst they had no objections they did have two concerns which they wished to express.

1. They were concerned that the narrowing of the junction, may make entering North Lane from Malton Road, by buses travelling from the city difficult and that they may struggle to "swing into North Lane", however they assume that calculations have been undertaken to gauge whether this is practically possible.

2. They are concerned about the maintenance of the hedges both on Malton Road and North Lane, as in the past Huntington Parish Council have had to constantly request that the hedges be cut back as footpaths have become impassable, it is a concern that both footpaths and cycle paths may become obstructed by poor maintenance of the hedges, making the costly installation of cycle paths redundant if they are unusable.

CYC Engineer Response

Swept path analysis has been undertaken as part of preliminary design works to ensure this is not an issue and relevant requirements will be included as part of any design taken forward

Maintenance of hedgerows is something which is noted in the preliminary design and the requirement for this following any potential revision to the junction will be highlighted to CYC Highways as maintaining agent

5. Walk York

First, thank you for the consultation about the proposed TSAR scheme at the junction of Malton Road and New Lane near Huntington.

This junction has little pedestrian movements on most days and hours. However, on days when York CFC are playing at the Community Stadium, pedestrian flows can be high and boisterous. Clustering around the nearside pedestrian indicator can be high and foolhardy. In theses circumstance, it would be dangerous to use nearside lights and safer to retain farside signalling which everyone can see clearly.

CYC Engineer Response

Pedestrian volumes around the current crossing on match days at the stadium will be checked once the season commences in late August and these considerations will be taken forward into the decision session to inform the detailed design process. Reasoning for the use of Near Side Red/Green Man technology at this site is further referenced in the decision paper produced for the scheme.

Additional MS Teams Meeting held with local ward councillors 13/09/22

Attendees: Cllr N Ayre Ward Cllr for Heworth Without

Cllr K Orrell Ward Cllr for Huntington and New Earswick

Cllr C Runciman Ward Cllr for Huntington and New Earswick

Cllr C Cullwick Ward Cllr for Huntington and New Earswick

James Williams CYC Transport Systems Project Manager

Notes taken by JW

Cllr Ayre suggests that number of peds/cyclists crossing at uncontrolled points between the entry from the stray and this junction is large and will not be captured by Traffic Count Statistics. The foot and cycleway provision south of Malton Road is superior to that located on the North meaning more users are likely to want to use it. The provision of the new crossing would be a better use of available budget than the amendments to cycling infrastructure currently proposed.

Ward Councillors are concerned about the ability for cyclists to enter the carriageway of New Lane without signal control and the safety concerns this raises. Motorists turning in to New Lane (sometimes at speed) may not be expecting cyclists to enter the carriageway at this point and cyclists may have issues with vehicles approaching from the rear at their transition point and squeezing them if traffic is already queueing on New Lane outbound. Cllr Ayre believes keeping cyclists on the carriageway to make the left turn into New Lane and providing them with an Advance Start is a safer option due to the issue of vehicles approaching from multiple sides under normal traffic flow.

Cllr Ayre happy with the widened transition points onto Malton Road inbound but indicates cyclists are still hurried by vehicles approaching from the rear and turning in both directions hence the need for the early start. In the current layout he has never encountered any issues with being able to pass vehicles and position himself at the front of the ASL. JW indicated this may not be the case if the left turn lane was removed.

Ward councillors indicate that demand for the left turn is consistently used (especially by residents of South Huntington who don’t wish to move through Monks Cross to reach the A64/ORR) and that match day traffic is having a noticeable impact on volumes at the junction as a whole. Concern raised that a lane removal would be comparable to the issues seen at Clifton Green when the same action was taken there and subsequently reintroduced. Other locations in the ward have a higher demand for cycling improvements (Anthea Drive and Yearsley Baths in particular) and public perception of lane removal in favour of cycling infrastructure would be very negative.

Cllr Orrell indicates that the hedges in the area are privately owned and this has previously had an impact on the ability to maintain by CYC though repeated requests have been made.

Cllr Ayre questioned whether the delivery could be phased with the signal upgrades undertaken first (to include cut back of hedgerows and introduction of the additional crossing point) with the possible improvements for Cycling infrastructure reassessed in 12/18 months time. JW indicated this would not be a standard TSAR approach and any subsequent desire for further works would need to be funded from an alternative source.

Cllr Runciman would support a proposal that only the traffic signal refurbishment works should be taken forward.

Consultation 2 23/09/22 – 10/10/22

TSAR Consultation: YK2237: Malton Road / New Lane.

Good Morning,

As part of the Traffic Signal Asset Renewal (TSAR) programme City of York Council are looking to refurbish the traffic signal controlled junction of Malton Road / New Lane.

A consultation on an initial design was previously completed in July of this year which generated feedback from stakeholders regarding alternative considerations for the site. This feedback has now been considered and 3 additional design proposals have been created which we now offer out for further consultation.

Option 0 (Now referenced as Design Proposal A in EMDS report)

· Full refurbishment of the traffic signal equipment and introduction of a new traffic signal controller to allow remote access of the equipment.

· Introduction of Near Side Red/Green Man Toucan Crossing technology

· Tactile paving brought up to recommended guidance and audible crossing alert included.

· Verges are moved back in the Northern Footway of Malton Road to provide slight increases in available shared space around the pinch point onto New Lane/Toucan crossing locations

· Removal of the existing carriageway island across New Lane

· Extended cycle on/off slip provision for cyclists wishing to join the off carriageway cycleway provision heading westbound along Malton Road.

· Application of Green surface markings over the entry points to residential properties on Malton Road and a commercial property on New Lane.

Option 1 (Originally consulted on in July 2022) (Now referenced as Design Proposal B in EMDS report)

· New Cycle slip provision from Malton Road onto New Lane joining the new Cycle Lane in a section of initial light segregation from other carriageway traffic

· Full refurbishment of the traffic signal equipment and introduction of a new traffic signal controller to allow remote access of the equipment.

· Introduction of Near Side Red/Green Man Toucan Crossing technology

· Tactile paving brought up to recommended guidance and audible crossing alert included.

· Kerblines built out on the mouth of New Lane to provide additional footway/cycle way space at the Toucan Crossing

· Removal of the existing carriageway island across New Lane

· Extended cycle on/off slip provision for cyclists wishing to join the off carriageway cycleway provision heading westbound along Malton Road.

· Application of Green surface markings over the entry points to residential properties on Malton Road and a commercial property on New Lane.

Option 2 (Now referenced as Design Proposal C in EMDS report)

· As Option 0 but also including the introduction of a new Toucan Crossing location to the south of the junction

· Extended areas of shared use pedestrian/cyclist space around the waiting areas for the new crossing

Option 3 (Now referenced as Design Proposal D in EMDS report)

· As option 1 but also including the introduction of a new Toucan Crossing location to the south of the junction

I would appreciate if you could review the drawings attached and send any comments to the TSAR mailbox (tsar@york.gov.uk) by the 10^th October 2022. All feedback received will be included in the next stage of the decision making process for the proposed scheme. If you have any questions on the proposal please do get in touch.

Kind regards,

Summary of Consultation Replies

1. York Civic Trust

Many thanks for these revised proposals. We are generally supportive of their aims, so I don't feel that it is necessary to send a more detailed letter. Broadly:

1. we welcome the additional protections for cyclists which Option 1 now provides, particularly on the exit into New Lane, which were not in your original proposal

2. we strongly support Option 1 in preference to Option 0; in particular the narrower entrance to New Lane provides the level of protection for cyclists and pedestrians which is consistent with the principles of the new Highway Code

3. for that reason we reject Option 2

4. but if resources permit, we would strongly support Option 3, which adds the Toucan crossing to the south of the junction, as this will provide significant further support for cycling on what is a key route to and from Monk's Cross and the new Stadium.

I hope that this is clear and helpful.

CYC Engineer Response

No Comment Required

2. York Cycle Campaign

Thank you for the update on the TSAR for the junction of Malton Road & New Lane.

Having reviewed the plans sent across, we can see that comments we originally made in July this year have been incorporated into Option 1 which we are grateful for and welcome. We also welcome the additional toucan proposed in option 3 as it will provide more safe options for cyclists, and pedestrians, to cross the road.

Of the four options put forward, our preference would be option 3 then option 1. We view options 0 and 2 provide minimal improvement on the current situation.

CYC Engineer Response

No Comment Required

3. Cllr Nigel Ayre – Heworth Without (Email representing all ward Cllrs)

Thanks for the update, Have discussed with fellow ward councillors and we all agree Option 2 is the one to take forward.

CYC Engineer Response

No Comment Required

4. Walk York

Our comments are confined to the proposed arrangements for pedestrians.

We remain opposed to the loss of farside pedestrian lights at this location where football fans will obscure nearside lights. Especially when they are in very high or low spirits. You agreed to monitor early season matches to inform your proposals.

We also object to shared cycle and footpath waiting areas around the new junctions. They must be segregated.

CYC Engineer Response

No Comment Required

Additional Notes

During consultation, the design options were numbered 0 – 3. During compilation of the associated Executive Member Decision Session Report, this has been changed to the following:

Option 0 is referenced as Design Proposal A

Option 1 is referenced as Design Proposal B

Option 2 is referenced as Design Proposal C

Option 3 is referenced as Design Proposal D