On the 12th of November, CoYC planning committee approved the reserved matters application for the access road into the York Central development north of the station. York Cycle Campaign spoke at the meeting to welcome the changes that had been made to the design for cycling and walking, but also highlight some remaining concerns about parts of the design. Below is a copy of the statement the Campaign delivered, and you can watch the committee meeting in full on the Council’s Youtube page.

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York Cycle Campaign welcomes that York Central access proposals have been revisited to improve their provision against the new LTN 1/20 guidance that came out earlier this year. We believe that the outcome is a generally better scheme more suitable for sustainable travel to and through the site

The Campaign has tested the proposals against the Cycling Level of Service Tool and Junction Assessment Tool provided in the LTN. We have calculated a score for the scheme as a whole as 76%, with some sections such as Millenium Green to Park Street scoring 93% due to the near textbook implementation of the guidance. The DfT pass mark is 70%

There are however, other parts of the scheme which only just meet minimum requirements.

Severus Bridge features a shared pedestrian and cycle path, which the LTN guidance recommends against, except in low speed and low traffic environments. Anyone who stands on Water Lane in the evening rush hour will know that even now this is a popular cross city cycle route. The high parapets of the bridge mean the effective width of this shared path is at its absolute minimum, leading to discomfort of all users.

Concerns have also been raised by Campaign members of the personal security of bridge users, on both this bridge and the East Coast Mainline bridge. The high parapets prevent any natural surveillance from the surroundings – members have already said that they would avoid the route at night due to the concerns.

As conditions 3 and 4 require further design details of both bridges; we would ask that appropriate segregation along Severus Bridge is revisited, and personal security of users for both bridges is considered as part of these conditions.

The plaza area in front of the National Railway Museum has also scored comparatively poorly, only just meeting the pass threshold. This is due to the sudden termination of cycle tracks into a high use pedestrian plaza. This will undoubtedly cause issues. The route through York Central will become a primary city centre to northwest cycle route, and this is being asked to contend with pedestrian access to one of the city’s major tourist attractions. 

We ask that under proposed condition 2; proper and legible segregation of cycle traffic from pedestrian users is considered and implemented around the National Railway Museum for the safety of all.

We support the adoption of option 2 for segregated cycle provision through the Leeman Road Tunnel, as this is the only option of the three proposals to meet LTN guidance. But ask the applicants to improve provision for connections to the rest of the cycle network, particularly in the area outside the Royal Mail Depot.

Finally, whilst we recognise that they are not included within this particular application, we would like to see a commitment to  the principles of the new LTN 1/20 guidance being applied to other aspects of York Central, such as the Wilton Rise access and connection through to the Salisbury Terrace area.

Summary of LTN scores for reference

Water Lane Access

Scores 78% on the CLOPS test. The weakest scores are as a result of Severus Bridge adopting a shared cycle/pedestrian path rather than having proper segregation, and the design of the bridge preventing overlooking security of pedestrians/cyclists using it.

Scores 71% on the JAT test. Loses points due to segments where shared cycle/pedestrian paths are used rather than proper segregations.

Millenium Green through to Park Street

Scores 93% on the CLOPS test. Weakest score comes from personal security concerns due to large parapets on ECML bridge blocking any overlooking.

Link to Leeman Road Tunnel

Scores 85% on the CLOPS test, score is reduced due to ends of link where it transitions to on-road provision.

Hudson Boulevard

Scores 97%, only loses 1 point due to assumption that 85th percentile motor traffic speeds would be between 20-30mph.

Cinder Street

Scores 59% on CLOPS, the worst scoring section, due to the lack of dedicated cycle infrastructure. 

Foundry Street

Scores 40% on CLOPS, due to lack of proper cycle provision. Road is identified as only initially closed to motor traffic, so has been tested as a future open state.

Adjacent NRM & Coal Drops

Scores 70% on CLOPS. Biggest losses are due to the potential pedestrian conflict around the NRM.

Leeman Road Tunnel

Scoes 68% on CLOPS, would score highly if provision as that through the tunnel was consistent through the section, but loses points because of shared sections in front of Royal Mail Depot.