GREENS claim bus users, cyclists and pedestrians have been let down after proposed improvements to a York junction were watered down.

City of York Council's executive member for transport and planning, Cllr Ian Gillies, agreed to scrap plans for a 20 metre stretch of cycle lane in Clarence Street and keep the existing crossing island south of the Clarence Street bus stops in place, instead of replacing it with a toucan crossing.

Officers told a decision session that the cycle lane work would have cost £90,000 and necessitated a four week closure of the junction.

They said there were huge problems in doing work at the street's junction with Lord Mayor's Walk because of various utilities buried under the surface.

There had been discussions with York St John University about the possible re-routing of power cables through its land but the costs and logistical problems were too great.

The new amended version of the planned improvements will now cost £270,000 and see works to both the traffic lights at the junction of Clarence Street and Lord Mayor’s Walk and the road surface of Clarence Street.

Cllr Gillies said he was not satisfied that the original scheme would have represented good value for money, and agreed to the amended project.

But Guildhall Green councillor Denise Craghill, who spoke out at the meeting against the changes, along with former Labour Transport cabinet member Dave Merrett, said afterwards that the decision was very disappointing. "It lets down bus users, cyclists and pedestrians who had already been consulted and supported a scheme in this area, which would also have benefited car drivers," she claimed.

"Almost all the original benefits are lost in the revised proposal – the decision to retain the small amount of narrow cycle lane in the middle of Lord Mayor’s Walk is minor in comparison to the main purpose of the original scheme."

She claimed the option to move the cable onto York St John University land would have been cheaper than £90,000 and wasn’t impossible, 'just quite difficult.'

Fellow Green councillor Andy D'Agorne said: "This shows how ineffectual the current administration is going to be on tackling congestion – the scheme now tinkers at the edges and does nothing to improve sustainable transport options or general traffic flow."