A COUNCILLOR is calling for a full or partial closure of Gillygate in York to be considered after new statistics showed a ‘significant’ drop in pollution levels during last month’s temporary closure.

The figures from a City of York Council pollution monitoring station showed that whilst the street was closed in the last week of April to allow for water main repairs, levels of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates fell, said Green councillor Denise Craghill.

She said the statistics weren’t ‘all that surprising but it’s good to know the figures confirm it’, and said the monitoring station was set quite a bit back from the road and so the difference there might well have been even greater.

She said that as a ward councillor, residents often asked her for something to be done about pollution and air quality in the busy street, and many would like to see at least some limitations on traffic which currently blighted the area.

“There’s a huge potential to improve the street environment and make it an even more thriving street for businesses and a really pleasant street for residents and visitors,” she said.

Asked whether the closure had caused knock-on problems elsewhere, she said routine monitoring had shown increased volumes of traffic in the Burton Stone Lane / Crichton Avenue area and to the east side of the city around Foss Islands Road, but these problems could ease in time with a permanent closure.

She said officers had ‘disappointingly’ said there were no plans to consider either a closure or partial closure.

“I would like to see further work to model a number of different solutions for Gillygate, taking into account the needs of buses, emergency services, businesses and residents – followed by consultation.”

But transport executive member, Cllr Ian Gillies, said closure of Gillygate was ‘not on the agenda’. He said similar arguments for closure could be made about other roads, such as Rougier Street, but he felt there would be considerable knock-on problems elsewhere.

A council spokeswoman said many factors, including weather and school holidays, could significantly affect pollution.

“It is likely that the closure of Gillygate did improve air quality as traffic was removed from the street, but it’s not possible to quantify this to an exact percentage.”