If you can, please leave your car at home for the next two weekends.
That’s the message for people in York as the closure of a bridge puts huge pressure on the city’s road network.
Work to demolish Queen Street Bridge will see it closed:
- from 8pm this Friday (19 April) to 6am on Monday 22 April
- from 8pm on Friday 26 April to 6am on Monday 29 April.
Queen Street Bridge will be closed to all users, including pedestrians, buses, cyclists and vehicles, from the taxi drop-off point in front of York Station to the residential access opposite Fleetways Taxis.
The car park at York Station will also be shut. York Station will stay open, as will the York Railway Institute.
The demolition of the bridge is part of the Station Gateway scheme to transform the entrance to York Station.
Major efforts are underway to mitigate the disruption caused by the closure, which is part of the inner ring road.
This includes a shuttle bus running every 15 minutes running to and from the station.
Marshalls and other support staff will also be on hand to try to keep the city moving.
The temporary traffic lights on Leeman Road have been removed during the bridge closure.
At the start of the work, from 8pm on Friday (19 April), the Lowther Terrace gates will reopen to allow pedestrians and cyclists to use this path again.
Essential journeys only
At a media briefing today (Wednesday), City of York Council said there were two key messages: York is open for business during the next two weekends – but please plan ahead if you are travelling.
Journeys are likely to take longer while the work goes ahead.
Deputy council leader and travel lead Cllr Pete Kilbane said people should only conduct essential journeys by car.
“Collectively, we need to keep the city moving. We need to free up the roads for blue lights, blue badges, builders, couriers, people carrying heavy loads, those sorts of essential journeys that need to be made.
“And the only way we can do that is if anybody who doesn’t need to use their car can leave it at home. Get a bus, walk, cycle.
“Do come to the city, use the Park & Rides, come in on the train.”
He had this warning if the message was ignored. “If people don’t change their behaviour, there will be gridlock and carmageddon.”
Temporary road
A temporary two-way road is being constructed through the station car park. It will operate as a diversion during the next few months.
James Gilchrist, the council’s director of environment, transport and planning, said this coming weekend, contractors John Sisk & Son will be “creating the tie-in to connect that temporary road into the existing highway network”.
That temporary road will then be open from Monday, 22 April.
The second weekend will see the bridge demolished. The rubble will be taken out of the city via Tadcaster Road.
Once this work is finished, the temporary road will stay in operation, until the Station Gateway with its new road layout is completed, set to be in November.
Bus diversions
Closing Queen Street Bridge means that some bus services coming into the city centre from the west of York will need to terminate at Blossom Street and some bus services travelling east will need to terminate at York Station.
You can find all the bus diversions here.
Free shuttle bus service
City of York Council has put on a free station shuttle bus service that will run every 15 minutes from Blossom Street to York Station. The service will start at 8pm on Friday and then run from 6.15am to 11.15pm on the Saturday and Sunday of both weekends.
That will run via Nunnery Lane and Rougier Street to and from the station.
“For people with mobility problems who would normally get the bus to the station, they’ll be able to get off the bus to Blossom Street and switch onto the onto the shuttle bus,” Cllr Kilbane said.
Other car parks
The station car park will be shut during the next two weekends. “Part of the reason we’re doing it at this time of year is because our car parks aren’t at full capacity,” Mr Gilchrist said.
He suggested station users go to Marygate car park. “There’s also Nunnery Lane and there’s also some temporary car parking at the back of York Station as well, on the York Central site.”
“But there’s no getting away from the fact that, if you can, we need you to leave your car at home,” Cllr Kilbane emphasised.
Work timetable
What happens if the work overruns? Mr Gilchrist said they have built in some time contingency into the plans, so the risk of it overrunning was low.
As always, something unforeseen could delay the work. “If we have a significant archaeology find, we may have a problem,” he said.
“But if it does happen, we’ve got decision points through those weekends to say, ‘we’re already so far behind, we’re going to stop here, and and make sure we can open on Monday morning, as planned’.”
All be worth it
Cllr Kilbane said: “This is a massive piece of work. There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a huge amount of disruption.”
He said they looked at allowing two-way traffic through Micklegate Bar during the works. But one lane of Micklegate is already blocked by the construction work for a new hotel on that street.
And road users were already driving the wrong way through Micklegate Bar “causing considerable problems”.
“We don’t want to add to the confusion by opening it for a weekend, closing it again, opening it for another weekend – we need to be consistent and clear with people.”
He thanked York residents for their forbearance. The public realm being created will be “fantastic,” he added, saying: “It’s going to be a spectacular way to get around the city and go to the station.”
The gateway project “revamps the public realm and gives us a gateway that’s fitting for such a historic, beautiful city,” added Mr Gilchrist.
There’s more about the Station Gateway work on the City of York Council website.