York Press column: I want to get York moving
January 17, 2024
A popular New Year’s resolution is to exercise more or, if you will permit me, to get moving. While we may walk, run and cycle in York, many motorists in York will tell you they feel they aren’t going anywhere. That is why I have renewed my pledge to Get York Moving Again to ensure all residents from every corner of the city can travel where they want when they want.
Not just focussing on low hanging fruit, I want to vanquish the problems which have plagued York for decades such as the dualling of the A64. Alongside my parliamentary colleagues Kevin Hollinrake and Sir Robert Goodwill, I met with the Roads Minister Guy Opperman and the Conservative Candidate for York and North Yorkshire Mayor Keane Duncan to launch our campaign to finally dual the A64.
As part of his campaign to be our region’s first mayor, Keane has committed to making a multi-million pound investment towards delivering the long-awaited dualling of the A64. We stand with Keane to do everything it takes to deliver this upgrade that is so essential to our economy, businesses, visitors and local residents.
The cost to dual the A64 is £300million but if a portion can be delivered locally then it would rank higher on Department for Transport’s list of viable projects.
Keane’s pledge gives us the very best chance of making the case to the Government and securing the dualling the A64 at long last.
The A64 is but one major road in York renowned for gridlock traffic, the other being the A1237 Outer Ring Road. Last year, the Prime Minister pledged funding for phase 1 A1237 Outer Ring Road dualling as well as new funding for phase 2 of the dualling from Wetherby Road to the A19. This is in addition to the £25.1 million worth of funding delivered in 2019 to begin the dualling of phase 1.
Readers can be forgiven for being cynical and perhaps believing the ring road will never be dualled. The ball is now firmly in City of York Council’s court, and they need to work with Highways England to secure planning permission as soon as possible so work can begin. The last four years have been a wasted opportunity but with additional funding secured it is now time to deliver a long-awaited project.
On the day this column is published I will be meeting with Active Travel England who have raised concerns about cycle infrastructure within the plans for dualling the ring road. While I appreciate all stakeholders’ concerns, they cannot be allowed to cause delays and potentially squander millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money. I hope to seek solutions not problems in this meeting and offer to work together to get dualling back on track as a matter of urgency.
Moving around York is on everyone’s mind with City of York Council currently consulting on their Transport Plan which will shape York’s transport infrastructure for years to come. The Labour administration was to reduce the amount of car use but I have concerns for this aim as at the same time they have announced proposed changes to bus routes that will have a disproportionally negative impact on the parts of the city within York Outer. My constituents are those most reliant on their cars for travel within the city and if we are to encourage them to make the switch to their local bus service there should improvements, not cutbacks to the current offering.
One area where proposed changes will be felt most is in Copmanthorpe as the ‘Flaxman Croft Loop’ will be withdrawn from the 13 bus route meaning some residents will have an additional 1km to walk to their nearest bus stop.
While temporary works on Tadcaster Road have made it difficult for the service to run on time, Connexions who operate the 13 bus route has not made it easy for the service to succeed given it regularly arrives at bus stops in Copmanthorpe only minutes after Transdev’s Coastliner bus. It is clear to see how common sense could improve both services and improve the experience of the passenger, but it appears commons sense is not being followed.
Whatever the result of this consultation, change is certainly coming to York’s transport policy. From May a lot of the responsibilities currently with City of York Council will be transferred to our new regional Mayor. Follow future columns to learn what Keane proposes for York’s bus services…
