Under and over

THIS time last year, it was hell on the roads.

Thousands of motorists were fuming in traffic jams on both the A64 and main routes through York, tourist and retail leaders were worried that visitors would be deterred from coming to York, and employees were turning up late for work because of the congestion.

But one year on, and with the traffic flowing freely again, many may feel that the project to close one of the A64's most dangerous central reservation gaps at Copmanthorpe and remove associated traffic lights will bring long-term gains which outweigh the short-term pains.

The removal of the lights alone has improved driving conditions for motorists on the dual carriageway. No more sharp braking when lights turn red, no more shunt accidents when the vehicle behind cannot stop in time.

But for Copmanthorpe motorists, the scheme means they can finally get across the dual carriageway and into York, and also on to the eastbound carriageway, without risking their lives.

Over the years, a number of villagers have been injured or killed trying to cross at the lights when motorists on the A64 have been unable to stop in time. In one tragic accident, teenager Stuart Elliott was struck by a police car going through the lights on red as he was crossing to the central reservation on a green light. The police driver, who had been heading to an incident in Leeds, was later cleared of causing death by dangerous driving but convicted of careless driving.

The project has involved the construction of a link road to take drivers along the side of the A64 and into an underpass below the carriageway.

It was the construction of the underpass that caused so much of last winter's motoring misery. With very little room for manoeuvre on that section of the A64, the Highways Agency decided there was no choice but to completely close first one carriageway and then the other to allow for the excavation of a deep hole to create the underpass. This meant a single-lane contraflow had to be introduced in both directions. The result at peak times last autumn was long queues of traffic along the A64, with knock-on problems in nearby villages as some motorists decided to "rat-run" down country roads to get out of a jam.

At one stage, entry to Bilbrough from the A64's eastbound carriageway had to be blocked off, because the main street through the village was becoming dangerously packed with rat-runners.

Some argued that the underpass was not needed. Why not make villagers use the York Outer Ring Road flyover to get across the A64 - as has happened as an interim measure in recent months?

But Copmanthorpe parish council chairman Mike Irwin says this was never an option, because it created unacceptable dangers for drivers trying to emerge from the village on to the flyover.

He said councillors had originally believed that the solution to the gap problem had been to persuade drivers to behave, but police had said traffic lights on such a dual carriageway could not safely continue. From that point on, the underpass had been supported by councillors and he looked forward to its finally opening today.

Updated: 15:17 Monday, October 14, 2002