9:42am Wednesday 17th March 2010
By Readers' letters
What on earth has been going on at the junction of Hospital Fields Road and Fulford Road for the last two weeks? Last year a major resurfacing and cycle lane alteration took place between Hospital Fields Road and Cemetery Road, causing three weeks of major disruption.
It all looks very pretty and cost mega money, but the yob element of the area still cycle on the footpaths, so no change there.
I bring up the above-mentioned junction as I have observed the antics that have been going on are more akin to a Monty Python sketch. One day a hole is dug on one of the corners, the next day it is filled in, then it is dug up again, then filled in again.
Occasionally the engineers – I use the term loosely – make a showing, standing around with hands in pockets nodding or shaking their heads, then shuffle off. I would imagine that the rest of Fulford Road will eventually resemble the first section that has been worked on with more major disruption and expense.
Already congestion-making measures are being put into place on the junction with Heslington Lane, with the implementation of a wider centre island, so cutting two road lanes down to one.
When will this lunacy in congestion-making come to an end? ’Tis time to stand up and be counted and dispense with any politicians, local or otherwise, who wish to be associated with bringing York to a halt.
Bob Waite, Holgate, York.
• I have thought it was the case, but now it has been proven; the lunatics are in charge of the asylum. I don’t travel into York very much, but have had to do so several times recently during the early part of the day, and I cannot believe anyone in their right mind would do what this council are doing to the roads in York.
I believe their aim is not to help traffic flow, but to hinder cars as much as they can so they will give up and go away. Everywhere you go they are narrowing the roads – Fulford Road with bus lanes, Hull Road with traffic lights for buses, and everywhere totally unco-ordinated traffic lights, so that you go from one red light to another with no flow at all.
Now I have just seen the latest, making two lanes into one out of York at the Heslington Road junction. The carbon monoxide build-up from stationary cars, just ticking over, must be horrendous.
Well done, you supposedly green-minded council. Hello, is there anyone sane there who drives a car, or are you all cyclists?
John Norman, Main Street, Wheldrake, York.
• A City of York Council spokeswoman said:
“The works form part of the Fulford Road improvements and involve some physical improvements as well as a complete refurbishment of the traffic signal equipment.
“To enable this work to happen safely some of the original traffic signals and crossing points have had to be temporarily relocated.
“A lot of the work requires pedestrians to be temporarily diverted onto the road behind barriers while works are ongoing. The contractor has been attempting to re-open the footways each evening, which may account for further temporary reinstatements.
“In addition to the highway improvement works, a number of utility companies are taking the opportunity to lay additional cable ducting to minimise disruption in the future.
“Once all the excavation works are completed the footways near the junctions will be resurfaced.
“The pedestrian refuge island in Hospital Fields Road has been removed as part of the improvements. This allows a second lane out from Hospital Fields Road, which should reduce the delay to traffic on Fulford Road.
“At Heslington Lane junction, the central island has been relocated to provide enough space for a bus and a cyclist heading towards York to safely pass.
“The outbound straight-ahead lane and left-turn lane have been replaced by a vehicle lane and cycle lane.
“Modelling indicated that the loss of the left-turn lane would have negligible impact on queue lengths, which appears to be born out from recent observations.
“Further alterations to this junction should improve the performance of the junction compared to the original layout and operation.”
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