ESH come back to complete road works

In the ongoing saga of the Hobstone development off Windsor Garth your Westfield Ward councillors have been pressing for a completion of the roadworks, and for the council to come up with a definite plan to improve parking in the area. Just before the Easter holidays a manager from ESH replied to Cllr Waller’s request for a plan of work following the inspection of roads in the area by representatives from City of York Council highways team and ESH contractors on 24th January. The plan is for works to be done in the area in stages from 24th April to 12th May and we have asked for more detailed plans to let residents know exactly what will happen.

Plan for works from 24th April

This follows some remedial repairs which your local Lib Dem councillor team have been pressing to have sorted out – the situation had become so bad that Cllr Waller had utilised a cycle around the ward with the Council’s Chief Executive on 17th March to show the dangerous state of the roads. There is unfinished business with the development having made the local parking situation worse than previously experienced and councillors are pressing for a plan to improve this situation before the situation gets further out of hand. No real explanation has been given why extra parking could not have been built into the programme whilst so much upheaval was going on. Suggestions from councillors that the area where the yellow seacontainer had been located as a site office could have been made into a parking bay with the plastic matrix were ignored by Yorkshire Housing the developer on the site.

Windsor Garth and Ashford Place junction before

Junction Woodford Place and Windsor Garth before

Repairs Ashford junction

Speed table with remedial repairs – but looking very sad

Speed table before

Woodford Place junction afterwards

New proposals for Thanet Road safety scheme

A new scheme has come forward from council officers for Thanet Road outside of Lidl. If approved this could see speed tables to assist pedestrians crossing from the supermarket. Last year officers agreed to halt a previous proposal which would have seen chicanes restrict the road to one carriage at a pinch point. We felt that this could make the situation worse for pedestrians, and this view was supported by many residents we spoken to.

Westfield Ward Councillors (along with neighbouring Dringhouses and Woodthorpe) have been asked to comment on the draft plans by 27th January. If residents would like to give their views then this will assist us. Whilst we think that it is an improvement on the previous scheme some aspects of the proposals may need modifying.

The 2017 scheme for Thanet Road pedestrian safety

This was the scheme which was withdrawn last year

Gritting improvements to help 24 Bus Route

Key Gritting Routes to be restored

The ruling Executive will use its first public meeting of the new year to consider reinstating all of the council’s primary winter gritting routes, which had been dropped by the previous Labour administration, with effect from the first of February 2017.

In Westfield this would see the number 24 bus route between Kingsway West and St Stephen’s Road brought back onto the primary route. Westfield Liberal Democrats had campaigned for this to be retained on the primary gritting route as it was a lifeline to elderly and vulnerable residents in the ward. The proposals would see the route added back on; Kingsway West, Ascot Way, Windsor Garth, Danesfort Avenue, and St Stephen’s Road.

This proposal will appear on the council’s forward plan on the 28^th December in order to allow it to come before Executive Members at their Executive meeting on the 26^th of January. Reinstating these routes as part of the council’s gritting plan will cost approximately £36,500 which will come from the council’s contingency budget. The reinstatement will return approximately 43km to York’s primary gritting network, restoring the total network to its pre-2013 level of 384km.

Additionally a further report will be brought later this year to the Executive to consider the adoption of the new Statutory Guidance ‘Well-managed highway infrastructure’ which has an impact on both the highways maintenance and gritting methodologies employed by the Council.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader of the Council Cllr. Keith Aspden said: “I am very pleased that we will be able to secure funding for gritting routes to be reinstated to the winter gritting schedule across the city. When the Labour administration cut gritting routes, we campaigned with local communities in order to ensure that everybody could travel safely, including on important local bus routes. It is very important that we now continue to look to protect and improve the frontline services that matter to local residents.”

Roadworks planned at Tudor Road / Green Lane / Kingsway West

There will be a road closure on the Tudor Road / Kingsway West junction on Thursday 24th November between 9:30am and 3pm to enable a traffic island to be constructed (on the part of the road which has a white ‘island marking’). This had been in FOCUS some months ago as council officers were consulting on proposals to reduce the conflict/accidents at the junction with the roundabout and make sure that vehicles coming from Kingsway West joined Tudor Road before entering the Green Lane roundabout – rather than trying to enter in a direct line.

Parking Progress in St Stephens Road

There will be a new parking bay built in St Stephen’s Road next week as part of the progress that has been made in providing additional parking in the area. It is a joint venture between the local Cornlands & Lowfields Residents Association who were able to get £5,000 for the work from the York Federation of Residents Associations, with the funding gap of £1,700 coming from the Westfield Ward Committee to enable the scheme to happen.

The location is around the block of flats 62-74 which does not currently have a parking bay, which will help the number 24 bus to get around the estate. Work will be completed in the week commencing 17/10/16.

This is the second parking scheme where a top-up from the locally decided Ward Committee Funds have enable a scheme to take place (the previous one is the layby on Ridgeway close to the Baptist Church) and shows what can be done by letting communities decide how budgets are allocated. Residents will shortly be balloted for further Ward Committee funding with the opportunity for £10,000 to be added to the parking project in the Ward which will work alongside other sources of funding for this work.

Letter to residents

Location

Flats in St Stephens Road to get parking layby

Streetlevel issues reported

It has been a busy weekend for the Westfield Lib Dem Council team with Andrew, Sheena and Sue all taking up issues to keep our streets in good condition.

Potholes were reported in Foxwood Lane, Huntsman’s Walk

Overflowing bins were reported on Thanet Road close to Lidl, Foxwood Park (opposite Community Centre)

Damaged bollards were reported in Barkston Avenue, Bramham Avenue, and Green Lane roundabout (by Belly Busters)

Dumping was reported in the Green Lane terraced area, and behind Front Street Shops, and Oldman Court

The vandalised street sign on Forrester’s Walk (at Otterwood Lane junction) was also reported.

Blocked gulleys on Gale Lane at junction with Chesney’s Field and by Bet Fred were reported

Traffic proposals for Westfield – Thanet Road, Tudor Road and Cornlands Road

The Ward Councillors have been asked by council officers to comment on three proposals for traffic schemes in the area. These are based on reported injury accidents in the years 2012 to 2014 ;

Thanet Road outside of Lidl there were 11 recorded incidents (all injuries recorded as slight) on Thanet Road from the Gale Lane roundabout. Four related to children stepping out or running into the road in front of a vehicle. Accidents are not at one point but distributed along the road. There is a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights near the Gale Lane/Foxwood Lane roundabout, and a pedestrian refuge south of St James Place. Officers are proposing that there is consultation on a speed table and a build out to limit the road to one lane width (with priority for vehicles travelling from Gale Lane would need to give way). In other parts of York this has created tensions which has created new problems in locations.

In response to five recorded accidents (all injuries classed as slight) with four being cyclists, around the junction of Tudor Road and Kingsway West. It is felt that drivers are trying to get onto the roundabout immediately rather than going onto Tudor Road and stopping to give way. The proposal is to introduce a ‘bolt down traffic island with bollard’ to stop direct access to the roundabout.

On the Cornlands Road/Gale Lane junction there were five recorded accidents (one injury described as ‘serious’ and four described as ‘slight’). Four of these accidents involved cyclists being hit by a vehicle that had failed to give way which officers believe may suggest visibility being restricted and so it is proposed to remove the guardrail either side of the Cornlands Road junction mouth to give a more unobstructed view to drivers. The road markings have been renewed as part of the resurfacing to improve the visibility of traffic entering the roundabout (which it is hoped will help cyclists).