ONE of York's busiest pedestrian routes between the city centre and the railway station is to undergo a feasibility trial of measures designed to ease overcrowding.

City of York Council has unveiled a package of improvements for the approach to the station at Station Road and Station Avenue, which is used by more than 7,000 pedestrian commuters, tourists and other visitors every day.

The council's ideas 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 with re-paving.

Also included is a review of signal-controlled crossing arrangements, to help relieve congestion by spreading pedestrian traffic more easily across both sides of the route.

The three-week, two-stage trial will start on February 18.

Colin Knight, head of transport planning, said: "This is one of York's busiest pedestrian routes, but also a particularly narrow one.

"This is an issue of safety with pedestrians having to pass each other with backs to the traffic.

"The idea of the three-week trial is to see how all the modifications, changed signalling arrangements and so on, work together."

Updated: 12:02 Wednesday, February 06, 2002