by Lionel Chatard, on behalf of York Hoteliers' Association

The York Hoteliers’ Association welcomes the City of York Council’s plans to further improve our City’s appearance and tourism appeal by redesigning the ‘streetscape’ around the York Art Gallery, the Library, York Minster and Blake Street, and also by facilitating pedestrian access to the historic core of our City from the railway station.

We believe that the ‘re-invigorating York’ campaign is crucial to its future prosperity, so that the whole precinct can rival any other European city.

We also support the council’s efforts in transforming our city into a more pleasant and environmentally-friendly one, with a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and by supporting cycle and public transport usage.

However, we consider that the ‘Lendal Bridge restricted access trials’ should be aborted as the reputation of our city as a ‘visitor friendly’ destination is in jeopardy.

All the efforts that the tourism industry and the retail sector place into ensuring that our guests leave York with wonderful memories, risk being annihilated by unexpected fines received afterwards. Negative messages on social media and regrettable coverage in the press have also had a detrimental effect, possibly deterring visitors.

Furthermore, businesses located on both sides of the river have suffered during the trials - There has been insufficient signage on the bridge and on the alternative routes, lack of clear information and satellite-navigation systems unable to be updated.

All these lead to frustrated guests arriving to our hotels and restaurants with a negative first impression. Suppliers have also reported additional costs and delivery delays due to the extended mileage and increased traffic on the alternative routes.

We are also surprised that the ‘high-season’ summer traffic has not been taken into consideration and fear worsened traffic conditions from the first race meeting onwards.

Should the ‘Lendal Bridge restricted access trials’ be confirmed, we would insist that the time restrictions remain unchanged – they should not include peak hour traffic as any such amendment would render the trial criteria obsolete.

We would also want to work constructively with the council on this matter and would recommend that the following actions are taken:

  • A dedicated ‘car turning area’ should be created to the North side of the bridge to avoid dangerous car manoeuvres from drivers late realising their mistake and having to reverse into the Museum Gardens entrance and over the traffic island
     
  • The Bridge should be resurfaced in red tarmac, as for a bus lane, to make the restriction obvious
     
  • ‘First offender’ non local drivers should receive a ‘warning letter’ first, with fines being issued from the second offence
     
  • Visit York Mini-guides and city maps should clearly indicate the restrictions and pin-point the city centre hotels’ location
     
  • Access to hotels and restaurants should be permanently signposted (Minster Yard, Clifton/Bootham, North Street…)
     
  • Flexibility to easily reopen these restricted areas to traffic should be considered, in case of problems on the alternative routes (floods, road accident, traffic light failure etc)