ROADWORKS which have shut one of York’s busiest streets are on schedule to finish before the busy Easter weekend.

Gillygate has been closed since February 22 to allow Northern Gas Networks to replace 260 metres of old metal gas mains with plastic pipes to safeguard future supplies.

The closure has led to extra congestion in some other parts of the city and, with the project due to last six weeks, any delay could have led to chaos over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend – traditionally one of the York tourist industry’s busiest periods.

But a spokeswoman for the company said today the scheme was progressing well, and was on target for completion by next Thursday – the day before Good Friday.

Coun Steve Galloway, City of York Council’s executive member for city strategy, has revealed that authority officials have been monitoring traffic levels on parallel parts of the road network to assess levels of congestion during the Gillygate works.

He said it was already clear there had been significant increases in volumes on roads such as Burton Stone Lane as well as parts of The Groves, the inner ring road and the northern bypass.