Never has there been a better time to make York a safer and easier city to cycle and walk in.

And just announced is the council investing  £500,000, as part of a longer term initiative, to introduce cycling and walking improvements across the city.

The current reduction in traffic, and following national guidance on social distancing measures, sees more residents than ever before are cycling and walking.

Some shorter term measures have already been introduced to provide more space for residents to social distance whilst walking, alongside other measures.

Some of the funding will be used on longer-term schemes to make routes safer by:

• resurfacing road with hazardous pot-holes for cyclists
• making improvements to footways
• pedestrian crossings
• introducing more dropped kerbs
• smart travel options
• improving cycling across the city

And the rest of funding will join up the city  and make improvements for cycling through the different neighbourhoods including:

• improvements to access the University of York, including improved links between East and West campuses
• improvements to a north-south link along the edge of the city centre but inside the inner ring road
• Rougier Street to Tanners Moat cycle gap, including improvements at this junction
• Fishergate Gyratory, including further investigations of improvements for pedestrians and cyclists
• better cycle facilities between New Walk riverside paths and the route through the Barracks to the University
• Orbital Cycle Route including improvements at the James Street / Lawrence Street / Regent Street junction
• accessibility improvements including investigation of amendments to various barriers on the network
• ramped path from the riverside to Bishopthorpe Road opposite the Chocolate Works site
• Skeldergate involving investigation of improved measures for cyclists at the two build-outs
• Fulford Road with measures to compliment the improvements delivered by the developers of Frederick House
• Tang Hall Lane including improvements to the access onto the Foss Islands Path
• South Bank / Bishophill areas cycle route Improvements
• Manor Lane and Shipton Road improvements
• additional funding for pedestrian crossing investigations and implementation
• cycle margin works at various locations (to be decided)

Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Executive Member for Transport, said:

There’s never been a more important time for people to cycle or walk, either for exercise or as option for active travel.

 

We have some excellent cycling and walking provision in York, but we are keen to do more to ensure people feel confident and able to get to their destinations safely during the Coronavirus pandemic, but also longer term. These additional measures will all be subject to more detailed design and the usual consultation processes, but will start to address gaps in our network where people feel less safe.