I WISH to respond to Mr Page (Letters, August 4) about the improvements to the entrance of York Railway Station.

Contrary to Mr Page's suggestion, pedestrian and cycling groups were consulted on the scheme.

The city's Disabled Persons' Advisory Group made comments during the design process and every effort was made to liaise with cycling groups.

Indeed, Mr Page was invited to a meeting to discuss the proposals on July 28 but was not able to attend. We did, however, discuss the scheme with him by telephone and his comments were considered along with those made at the meeting.

Mr Page also raised concerns about the width of the cycle lanes and the advanced stop lines. Unfortunately, our station newsletter incorrectly stated that the cycle lanes would be one metre wide and that advanced stop lines would be provided for cyclists.

These statements referred to a previous version of the scheme and are no longer valid. The scheme will actually provide 1.2 metre cycle lanes on both sides.

Advanced stop lines are not being provided.

Mr Page's final point concerned the removal of the right turn into the station.

The area available for construction is extremely small and one of the compromises that had to be made was the loss of a right-turn lane into the long stay car park. This decision was not taken lightly, but it was felt the provision of cycle lanes in Station Road were of greater importance.

An access slip onto the Puffin Crossing was included in the scheme to assist cyclists entering the station from the outbound direction.

This will allow cyclists to leave the main carriageway and use the crossing, although they will have to dismount to use it correctly.

Graeme Stanton,

Engineering Consultancy,

City of York Council,

Back Swinegate, York.

Updated: 11:20 Friday, August 12, 2005