WORK on the second phase of trial improvements to help walkers heading from York railway station into the city centre started today.

City of York Council has unveiled a package of improvements which transport bosses hope will drastically ease crowding along the approach to the station, at Station Road and Station Avenue.

The pedestrian route is one of York's busiest, being used by more than 7,000 people daily.

The two-stage feasibility trial began a week ago and will last for three weeks.

The council first unveiled its plans last September.

The first stage involved modifications to Station Avenue, plus changed signalling arrangements.

Stage two involves modifications to a section of Station Road, which runs from the Royal York Hotel to the traffic lights at the junction with Station Rise.

The ideas being tested include widening existing footways, narrowing short stretches of the road, improving bus waiting areas, tackling obstructive street furniture, and making the route more attractive and easier to walk on with re-paving.

The council's head of transport planning, Colin Knight, said: "The idea of the three-week trial is to see how all the modifications, changed signalling arrangements and so on work together.

"In our consultation last year there was 80 per cent support for these improvements."

Updated: 11:43 Monday, February 25, 2002