Agenda item

4.1            Damon Copperthwaite of City Strategy spoke about proposed plans for the Park & Ride on the A59.

4.2             The Park & Ride is part of the Access York Phase 1 project, which is part of the transport strategy to reduce congestion. The A59 is the only major A road without a Park & Ride.

4.3             The Park & Ride on the A59 will be on Station Road at the junction of Northfield Lane, which will be signal-controlled. The cars will come down Northfield Lane and into the carpark; buses will use a separate entrance. The proposed site is on a greenbelt area, but Park & Ride sites are allowed to be built on greenbelt.

4.4             The project is now close to pre-application consultation; the consultation should take place in March, with the planning application in August and, all going well, a decision will be made in January. It is hoped construction would be complete by the end of 2011.

4.5             There are no definite proposals for the A59 roundabout, but we would like to discuss it at a future meeting. At that stage we would also have proposals for the A59 going into the city.

Q. (Cllr. Gillies) What is the timescale for development?

A. It must be completed by the end of the financial year 2011-12.

Q. (Cllr. Gillies) What are the plans for the roundabout?

A. We plan to improve the capacity of the A59 roundabout. We are looking at lots of options.

Q. Could the entrance to the Park & Ride start from the entrance to Old Moor Lane?

A. Old Moor Lane was part of the original plan. There are properties there which raises safety issues – we don’t want to proliferate journeys. We didn’t feel that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages. We will improve the capacity of the roundabout. There is also a plan to improve the capacity of the outer ring road. We were unsuccessful in a recent bid, but this improvement will arrive.  

Q. There is no link onto Burland’s Lane, is there?

A. Yes, there is access.

Q. Where is the mini-roundabout?

A. It’s near the livery place.

Q. What is the capacity of the site?

A. The construction will take place in two phases. It will initially have 650 places, but the application will be for 1,200 places. When the extra capacity is required we can extend it.

Q. Don’t we need a site inside the ring road?

A. It’s not about capturing people who live within the ring road, it’s about people from radial routes coming into city. We know that people go out to it. From a survey of users based on postcode we know that people travel out of the city. Park & Ride is cheap compared to parking.

Q. Does the same timescale apply to Askham Bar?

A. Yes, all three schemes are progressing at a roughly similar time. That way we will get economies of scale. We’re not going through planning at the same time, that needs to be staggered.

Q. What provision is being made for cyclists, particularly on the route going West on the A59?

A. There will be facilities. We’re looking at cycle tracks into the city. We don’t currently have funding for the route to Harrogate.

Q. What’s the arrangement for the traffic from Harrogate?

A. There will be traffic lights, which are usually good at delivering safe junctions.

Q. The volume of traffic will really cause trouble – could the traffic not turn left and then have an underpass under the A59?

Q. You could include a pedestrian footpath into the station.

Q. (Cllr. Gillies) There is a problem with rat-running through the village. A barrier further out will encourage more people to cut through the village.

A. I don’t think it will be a significant amount of traffic. The signals won’t stop the outflow onto the roundabout – nothing will build up any further. We’re hoping to take vehicles out of the A59 into the Park & Ride.

Q. (Cllr. Gillies) It might be useful to take a traffic count beforehand to see what traffic is coming through the village.

A. (Damon Copperthwaite) There was a similar problem at Askham Bryan and when studies were conducted, the concerns were unfounded.

Q. The main problem is the roundabout.

A. Yes, and we will improve capacity and widen the A59 filter lane.

Q. (Cllr. Gillies) What will people see regarding road works for Manor School?

A. The road works are planned to improve access to the school: we will improve the junction at the end of Millfield Lane – the junctions will all be regularised to include pedestrian crossings for children. We’re building cycle lanes and pedestrian facilities on Beckfield Lane, going up to the new school. There will be a rising bollard activated by the bus and outside the school there will be new bus lay-bys. The work will be ongoing to the end of March.