Dualling York’s outer ring road ‘utterly pointless’ – as it will be gridlocked by 2033, leaked documents show

Dualling York’s outer ring road is “utterly pointless” as council projections show it will be “gridlocked” by 2033, campaigners have said.

Council chiefs yesterday (Thursday) voted to press ahead with dualling the section of road from Rawcliffe to Little Hopgrove.

The council says doing so will reduce congestion and journey times and encourage traffic out of the city centre.  A planning application for the scheme is nearing completion. 

But a council presentation – seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service – shows that traffic conditions will only worsen on the A1237 and surrounding roads.

York Green Party and cycle campaigners say this proves the so-called ‘induced demand’ theory – where building more roads simply encourages more car journeys.

The council modelling predicts that in 2033 – before all Local Plan housing developments are completed – that there will be: increased queueing on A1237 eastbound; evening rush hour queues stretching from Crockey Hill back into Fulford; and a large increase in congestion on A64 junctions, among other issues. 

Dualling the outer ring road has been a long-standing aim for all York’s political parties except for the Greens, with both the party’s executive committee members, Coun Andy D’Agorne and Coun Denise Craghill, abstaining on the latest vote.

Coun D’Agorne said: “My views on the anticipated benefits of this £71m highways project haven’t changed.

“Increasing capacity is known to lead to induced traffic attracted to the route and thus negating the benefits in a very short timescale.”

Congestion ‘will get worse’

Corporate director of place Neil Ferris said: “The outer ring road is a key piece of infrastructure that has been determined through the transport modelling process that is necessary to ensure that the city’s network continues to travel freely with those additional 18,000 homes that are proposed across the city.”

But Tom Franklin, chair of York Green Party, said: “The presentation on modelling confirms what York Green Party has been saying for a long time – that dualling of the northern ring road will not achieve anything. 

“It is clear from the council’s own modelling that dualling the ring road will simply increase the amount of traffic and not only will delays on the ring road rapidly return to the level that they are now, the congestion on other roads will get much worse as more people drive because the road is there.

“York Green Party is also clear that dualling the ring road is incompatible with the needs of the climate emergency.”

‘Absolutely critical’

A spokesperson for York Cycle Campaign said: “It’s no surprise that traffic models show that the outer ring road will be gridlocked by 2033, and it is utterly pointless to spend all this money widening the ring road unless it’s accompanied by a clear plan for traffic reduction within the city, enabling people to ditch their car and choose to walk, cycle or take the bus instead.”   

Council leader Coun Keith Aspden said: “We know that improving and dualling the outer ring road is a big priority for many residents across the city.

“Upgrading the ring road provides us with an opportunity to reduce congestion and journey times for the thousands of local residents who use it.”

Coun Nigel Ayre, executive member for finance and performance, said the project was “absolutely critical to delivering the Local Plan”.