Further details of a £1.4 million package of measures designed to support cycling, walking and bus use on one of York’s busiest roads have been approved by City of York Council.
The improvements are set to be made along the full stretch of Tadcaster Road from the Askham Bar Park and Ride to Blossom Street.
They will be delivered by the council in partnership with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), starting in late spring this year and finishing sometime early next year.
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City of York Council said the latest draft of the proposals takes into account resident feedback that was submitted during a consultation held in August and September last year.
The latest proposals include the introduction of some sections of ‘light segregation’ to improve cyclist safety along the corridor, widening of the footpath and cycle path at the corner of Tadcaster Road and Knavesmire Road and confirmation of the proposed pedestrian crossing near to the junction with Nelsons Lane.
In addition to the WYCA funding, the council secured an additional £5 million funding from the Department of Transport’s local highways maintenance challenge fund last year.
This will ensure essential maintenance and improvement work will also take place to the drainage, lighting and the surfaces of the road and footways.
Limited funding
The council hopes that, by delivering the maintenance scheme at the same time as the proposed transport improvements, it will help to reduce the amount of disruption on Tadcaster Road.
York Cycle Campaign had asked for various changes to protect cyclists along the route, but Julian Ridge, the council’s sustainable transport manager, said not everything was possible within their budget.
He added: “The priority here is to outline a scheme that we can be certain that we can deliver within the funding that we’ve got for Tadcaster Road corridor.
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“We have a limited amount of funding and a limited time window to deliver the scheme.”
The council’s deputy leader and executive member for transport, Andy D’Agorne, said: “It does give us the opportunity to learn from experience as we move forward with other corridor schemes to try to ensure that we get that balance right between as near continuous segregated routes as is feasible, but ensuring that there’s safety and confidence of cyclists when they do have to inevitably cross junctions, side roads and drives.”