One political party has welcomed a radical plan to transform York station – but has gone a step further.
The Greens want to see the station’s long-stay car park closed and developed, while relocating the spaces to park and ride sites outside the city centre.
They were responding to a City of York Council consultation on the changes put forward to alter the station area completely.
Green group leader Andy D’Agorne said:
Reducing the total parking around the station is key to unlocking the potential of the York Central development – residents living in surrounding areas want to see peak time traffic reduced.
An executive ‘airport style’ service operating at all hours from park and ride sites – linking with arrival time for London and other mainline trains – could remove hundreds of cars and allow for business uses and bus interchange much closer to the station.
Green ideas
Here is a summary of York Green Party’s other responses to the station plans.
Queen Street Bridge
They support the proposals to remove the Queen St Bridge, open up access to the city centre through the Victorian arch under the walls and segregate cycle routes away from the buses
Tea Room Square
The Greens also support the removal of traffic from Tea Room Square and the relocation of the taxi rank to improve air quality and safety.
Bus provision
Potential designs for a full bus interchange next to the station should be carefully evaluated before committing to the current layout. This would simplify the layout and ease with which visitors can locate their bus and allow for change of direction by services without the need for a loop around the site.
Cycling
The segregated design is a step forward, according to the party, removing some of the conflicting movements near bus stops. However tying in to a safe design at the Lendal Gyratory and Blossom Street junctions will be crucial – for example advance cycle lights and feeder lane at the junction.
The ‘super- crossing’ near the entrance is likely to be used by many cyclists who should be given a clearly delineated section of the crossing, leading to a clearly marked wide cyclepath through Tea Room Square to reach the cycle parking or access the route to Scarborough Bridge.
New routes
York Greens support the idea of at least investigating provision of a new pedestrian and cycle bridge from the southern part of the site, potentially connect with the Lowther Terrace access from Holgate Rd and could enhance walking and cycling between York Central and the area south of the station.
General landscaping
The party says it will be important to consider tree planting to provide shade and moisture retention, particularly bearing in mind climate change.
The natural slope of the banks below the walls provides scope for floral and water features especially on either side of the Victorian arch, leading the eye to the new pedestrian route into the city centre.