City of York Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority have launched a consultation on a new scheme designed to improve walking, cycling and bus travel on one of York’s busiest routes.
The £1.4m improvements, which are set to be made along Tadcaster Road from the Askham Bar Park & Ride to Blossom Street next year, will be delivered by the council in partnership with the combined authority.
It forms part of a wider roadworks scheme designed to help people travel more sustainably by providing more attractive, safer and convenient routes.
People are only being asked for their views on the walking, cycling and bus travel scheme, which could help to make improvements to support and encourage people to walk, cycle and use the bus; make travelling by bus more convenient and reliable; and create safer and more attractive cycling and walking routes.
According to the council, in time, this should reduce congestion, improve air quality and improve the health and wellbeing of residents.
Cllr Andy D’Agorne, executive member for transport, at City of York Council, said: “We’re delighted to launch this consultation to seek views on introducing additional walking, cycling and bus improvements on one of York’s busiest routes.
“Thousands of residents, students and visitors use this route every day and it’s great news that in addition to the £5m to upgrade Tadcaster Road, to reduce localised flooding, we’re now in a position to work with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to look at additional improvements to provide more attractive, safer and convenient routes.
“It’s a great opportunity to be able to combine the two schemes, so that the level of disruption for residents, businesses and visitors is reduced as much as possible as the city reopens after lockdown.”
The consultation takes places from Monday 23 August until Sunday 19 September.
The scheme is being delivered with money from the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund, which is designed to help transform gateways to towns and cities across the region by making it easier to walk, cycle and use public transport.
In addition to this, the council secured an additional £5m funding from Department of Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund last year. This will be used for essential maintenance and improvement work to drainage, lighting and surfaces of the road and pavements.
Both schemes are proposed to be delivered simultaneously so that disruption to residents, businesses and the users of Tadcaster Road can be minimised and overall costs reduced.
As the plans are at feasibility stage, the purpose of the consultation is to inform the next stage of creating more detailed designs. All feedback will be taken to a decision session later this year for consideration.
If approved, construction could start in late spring 2022 and complete in early 2023. Once detailed designs have been produced the construction dates will be confirmed.
