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Protest over road changes
11:59am Monday 11th February 2008
Comments (25)A DOCUMENT has been drawn up detailing residents' objections to alterations to one of York's busiest roads.
City of York Council has put forward proposals for new bus and cycle lanes plus additional sets of traffic lights in Fulford Road.
These include new traffic signals at the junction of Fulford Road and Cemetery Road, including pedestrian crossings. Additional bus lanes along sections of Fulford Road, both inbound and outbound, new traffic lights at the A19's junction with the A64, a new pedestrian crossing with traffic lights outside Fishergate Primary School and a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights outside St George's Roman Catholic Primary School.
There would also be new cycle lanes and off-road cycle track along stretches of Fulford Road New bus lanes along stretches of Fulford Road.
But some residents feel the measures will worsen the problems with traffic. Graham Cheyne, of Selby Road, said about 50 people have put their name to the document.
Mr Cheyne said: "In Selby Road residents have got together to produce a document outlining our concerns and observations and noting that no traffic surveys have taken place."
He said that since traffic lights were installed at Crockey Hill there has been standing traffic and gridlock around the Designer Outlet which was not there before. He also claimed that City of York Council's priorities were cyclists, pedestrians and buses and little consideration has been given to residents.
He said: "The council's answer to everything is traffic lights.
"Maybe common sense will prevail and they will see there is no need for traffic lights as we have a couple of hours of madness and then it's quiet. When they install them we're going to have chaos."
Fulford councillor Keith Aspden said he would be attending another residents' meeting on February 26 so he could fully understand their concerns and pass these on to the council.
In response to claims that the installation of traffic lights at the junction of Naburn Lane is a "done deal" because of the Germany Beck development, Coun Aspden said the council had asked the developers to make improvements to traffic flow and although the idea was for traffic lights at the junction, this was not set in stone.
A council spokeswoman said: "The consultation exercise is seeking people's views on a raft of measures aimed at improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians; minimising the amount of traffic queuing in Fulford village and further north on Fulford Road and Fishergate; making bus services faster and more reliable by creating new bus priority measures; and improving traffic control at key junctions.
"The proposals were drawn up by the council after a study examining congestion and accessibility on Fulford Road showed that, unless improvements were made, bus and car journey times would significantly increase as a result of worsening congestion. All responses will be carefully analysed."
Your Say YourYork Press
ll, york says...
12:32pm Mon 11 Feb 08
p, York says...
12:47pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Brilliant planning.
Miss Amelia Rate, YORK says...
12:49pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Angry and Frustrated, York says...
12:51pm Mon 11 Feb 08
As it's Monday, I'm clearly being stupid, but how will this help? All it will do is slow traffic down that wants to turn into Cemetary Road from Fulford Road, thereby creating more of a backlog of traffic coming into town at the busiest periods.
On an evening, Fulford Road is at a stand still in any event due to the volume leaving York which does then have a knock on effect on Cemetary Road. However, unless the Council have teleportation device that will spirit the traffic away, even if there were lights here, where do the Council think the cars will go when the lights turn green if the traffic is already stationary?
andydag, York says...
12:59pm Mon 11 Feb 08
thin libby wrote:Actually the main purpose of the scheme is to make it quicker by bus from the Designer Outlet into town.The Hospital Fields lights can be changed to allow bikes from across the stray to come out at the same time as traffic from Hospital Fields Rd, but drivers would need to take care to give way if turning right across oncoming traffic. A change like this was made to the Broadway lights a few years ago. As for the cycle lanes, there are school children,mums,shoppe
why did they ask for our opinion when they had already made their minds up about the scheme.fulford road was fine before the hospital fields traffic lights so how can more sets improve traffic flow. as for the bike lanes, it s only because weirdy beardy d agorne comes this way into town that we are overrun by cycling schemes.ho hum another day in the madhouse.
rs and old folks (with or without beards) who use the road,and more will use their bikes if they feel safe from the traffic.
BL, says...
12:59pm Mon 11 Feb 08
the invisible man, southbank says...
1:00pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Miss Amelia Rate, YORK says...
1:38pm Mon 11 Feb 08
the invisible man wrote:Great idea, more tax for an already over-taxed population!
Congestion charges at peak times and complete blanket cover in york with properley priced & policed residential parking. Why should the residents of Fulford (or any where else in York) suffer because people are too lazy to use the park and ride - And don't argue it is too expensive, as it is far cheaper than all the petrol used sitting in a traffic jam for an hour!
Jo, York says...
1:54pm Mon 11 Feb 08
2) Use congestion as an excuse to implement more schemes
3) Welcome to the crazy infinite loop of local government thinking!
Student, says...
1:58pm Mon 11 Feb 08
exYorkist, USA says...
3:01pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Big man, Garforth says...
3:44pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Stevie in Selby, Selby says...
4:33pm Mon 11 Feb 08
As for the cycle lanes, there are school children, mums, shoppers and old folks (with or without beards) who use the road,and more will use their bikes if they feel safe from the trafficThat's all very well, but cycle lanes on a free-flowing 2-way road don't make it safer for cyclists. Cycle lanes have two purposes: (1) to allow cyclists to pass queueing traffic, and (2) to allow councils to look like they are doing some good.
And (1) only works when accompanied by double yellow lines, and where the cycle lane is continuous, unbroken, all the way.
Where traffic does not regularly queue, cycle lanes on the road do no good, and often make things worse for cyclists.
Having said that, Fulford Road is sufficiently congested that cycle lanes along it probably would be worthwhile.
Stevie in Selby, Selby says...
4:37pm Mon 11 Feb 08
I'm all for new cycle lanes but if you want to encourage more people to use them they really need to be on the footpaths simply because it is safer to ride on the path than the road.Sorry, but that is wrong. Dangerously wrong.
Cycling on the road is safer than on the pavement. Studies carried out in this country and abroad consistently show that cyclists who ride on the pavement are 2 to 7 times more likely to be seriously injured than those who ride on the road - and it doesn't make a whole lot of difference whether it's legal to cycle on the pavement there or not, it's still a lot more dangerous.
The only time this isn't true is when it's a fast open road and there are no houses, very few side roads and access points, and very few pedestrians. The A19 between Riccall and Barlby is a good example of where pavement cycling is safe. The A19 through Fulford is not.
Where there are side roads, houses, shops, bus stops, pedestrians and all the general clutter and bustle of an urban street, cycling on the pavement is not safe - not for the cyclists or for the pedestrians - and should not be allowed.
Student, says...
4:51pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Stevie in Selby wrote:Any cyclist with any common sense would know to stop at a road crossing. Look at the cycle lanes at Clifton Moor - they're on the path and I've never heard of anyone being hurt as a result (and I think Clifton Moor is a fairly busy urban area)
Student:
I'm all for new cycle lanes but if you want to encourage more people to use them they really need to be on the footpaths simply because it is safer to ride on the path than the road.Sorry, but that is wrong. Dangerously wrong.
Cycling on the road is safer than on the pavement. Studies carried out in this country and abroad consistently show that cyclists who ride on the pavement are 2 to 7 times more likely to be seriously injured than those who ride on the road - and it doesn't make a whole lot of difference whether it's legal to cycle on the pavement there or not, it's still a lot more dangerous.
The only time this isn't true is when it's a fast open road and there are no houses, very few side roads and access points, and very few pedestrians. The A19 between Riccall and Barlby is a good example of where pavement cycling is safe. The A19 through Fulford is not.
Where there are side roads, houses, shops, bus stops, pedestrians and all the general clutter and bustle of an urban street, cycling on the pavement is not safe - not for the cyclists or for the pedestrians - and should not be allowed.
If you could point me to any of these studies I'd be grateful but until then I wont accept that cycling on the pavement (where there are no cars) is more dangerous than cycling on the road where there are cars
the Butler, Cowichan Bay B.C Canada says...
5:31pm Mon 11 Feb 08
bernard, Getting ready to cycle home. says...
5:32pm Mon 11 Feb 08
If you aren't grown up enough to cycle on the road then leave your bike at home and don't forget to get a grown up to hold your hand while crossing the road.
Student, says...
5:58pm Mon 11 Feb 08
bernard wrote:I do not appreciate your patronising tone bernard.
It doesn't matter which is safer the law states that you ride your bike on the road. End of story, Student.
If you aren't grown up enough to cycle on the road then leave your bike at home and don't forget to get a grown up to hold your hand while crossing the road.
I personally don't cycle EVER. I know what the law says, but those paths that are split down the middle for pedestrians and cyclists work well enough as far as I can tell.
On Topic, says...
5:58pm Mon 11 Feb 08
It doesn't matter which is safer the law states that you ride your bike on the road. End of story, Student.Not if you're on a cycle path
Paul Hepworth, York says...
5:59pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Complainants about traffic lights are generally longer distance drivers who see suburban traffic lights as an obstruction to their particular journey. Many Fulford residents might think otherwise.
TooRad, york says...
7:02pm Mon 11 Feb 08
I see Fulford Rd every morning and every evening, and I see cyclists going on their merry way whilst drivers sit, frustrated, at a near standstill.
Honestly, why does anyone talk negatively about bikes when discussing congestion? If drivers are sitting in their cars blaming cyclists because they aren't getting anywhere, they are sorely mistaken!
If I had to join that queue, it wouldn't be long before I applied for a change of hours, or changed my job, or transport, or house. Anything really.
And that's my point - it's not down to the council to improve it, it's down to us. If people hate sitting in queues, why do they keep joining them?
daz, york says...
12:20am Tue 12 Feb 08
Another unsurprisingly idiotic scheme from the York council. Look on the bright side: at least they're not putting in more chicanes.
Thats next week.
magicman!, york says...
2:06am Tue 12 Feb 08
Will extra traffic lights and bus lanes along the A19 through Fulford Road help solve congestion problems on that side of the city? Yes, but only if motorists who can use their bikes or the bus actually do so.
Whilst I don't like the idea of red and green (well, red!) lights all over the city, there's isn't the room for any proper junctions... we ain't going to see an A19 flyover in fulford anytime soon!!
I am concerned as to whether the cycle lanes will be properly segregated away from pedestrians and those who don't know their highway code regarding shared use footpaths or whether us cyclists will be forced to go along on-pavement cycle lanes and be told off by dogwalkers and people with pushchairs who think cyclists are evil for following the on-pavement cycle lane, and such other people who obviously are blinded to the blue signs.
plaggy terry, classic cutz heworth says...
3:49pm Tue 12 Feb 08
Graham Cheyne and neighbour Helen Harmer, who live in Selby Road, Fulford, and are angry at the new bus lane and traffic light proposals outside their homes
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thin libby, york says...
12:28pm Mon 11 Feb 08