Blossom Street to get revamp (From York Press)
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Blossom Street in York to get revamp
8:20am Thursday 8th December 2011 in News
By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk
Traffic backs-up in Blossom Street.
A £200,000 scheme aimed at improving one of the gateways to York will start early next year.
The alterations to Blossom Street are designed to cut down on delays for motorists heading into and out of the city, as well as making the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
The programme of work, drawn up by City of York Council, will focus on the area around Blossom Street and Holgate Road and their junctions with The Mount and East Mount Road, with the current traffic lights being replaced by newer versions.
Part of the road surface at the corner of Holgate Road will be resurfaced and the pavement will be widened, while pedestrian crossings will be modernised and cycle feeder lanes will be installed in Blossom Street. Another cycle route will also be introduced in Holgate Road, starting at the iron bridge over the railway line.
The scheme, which is expected to start in February or March and take about four weeks to complete, will also involve building a larger bus shelter outside Reel Cinema in Blossom Street and a new shelter for passengers catching the No.3 and No.4 services. A stop line and traffic signals will be introduced in Holgate Road, near Holgate Villas, with the intention of cutting down on bottlenecks.
The council has said the project will not lead to any car lanes being removed.
Coun Dave Merrett, the council’s cabinet member for city strategy, said: “These works aim to get York moving by improving access to the city for all pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers and drivers,” said “Evidence shows a more free-flowing city improves York’s business prospects, air quality, safety and quality of life for all.”
A city-wide consultation in 2010 seeking residents’ views on improvements to the junction of Blossom Street, Queen Street, Nunnery Lane and Micklegate saw more than 5,250 people take part, with proposals for removing traffic lanes being rejected. New pedestrian crossings with radar sensors were subsequently installed together with measures to give cyclists turning out of Queen Street into Blossom Street a five-second head-start over other traffic.
Full details of the next phase of work are available at www.york.gov.uk/council/consultations/current/blossomst/
Comments(16)
nearlyman
says...
8:43am Thu 8 Dec 11
....or just accept that traffic is going to always plague York. I recall 20 odd years ago, the council in its wisdom, spending a fortune on the latest computer traffic control and never seeing the blindest bit of difference or if there were, it probably just encouraged more traffic into York because it seemed clearer !
yorkshirelad
says...
8:49am Thu 8 Dec 11
pedalling paul
says...
9:18am Thu 8 Dec 11
nearlyman wrote:The UTC (sorry Urban Traffic Control) computer subtly optimises junction capacity without broadcasting the fact that it is doing so. Hence there is no unleashing of suppressed demand as would occur, if more visible measures eg extra lanes were added. Yorkshirelad has hit the nail on the head with this, in his final sentence.
................Get rid of 50% of the traffic lights on all the roads out of York. They are the biggest problem to free flowing traffic in York................
....or just accept that traffic is going to always plague York. I recall 20 odd years ago, the council in its wisdom, spending a fortune on the latest computer traffic control and never seeing the blindest bit of difference or if there were, it probably just encouraged more traffic into York because it seemed clearer !
Exiting Queen St right into Blossom St on lane 2 is now fraught for cyclists, as there is now no centre island between Blossom St's inbound and outbound lanes, to deter overtaking of outbound cyclists on the bend. Overtaking drivers then find inbound lane 3 and its "green box" occupied and barge back into outbound lane 2 perilously close to the cyclist they have just overtaken. If a second overtaker is following,the situation is considerably worsened. A strategically situated collapsible bollard would deter this. Thankfully now cyclists turning to the A59 further along have the alternative new route via the railway station, but that is closed overnight.
Chicanes may irritate some drivers but local residents trying to cross the road, particularly those with sensory or mobility restrictions, will be very grateful for measures that deter speeding.
24.2.1969bestcitygoalever...
says...
9:30am Thu 8 Dec 11
It's still not very good - I almost always regret going on it.
Must drive you locals crackers.
More like a 'trundlepast' than a 'bypass'.
When are you going to do a proper job?
24.2.1969bestcitygoalever...
says...
9:51am Thu 8 Dec 11
Time to replace the road surface with a 'tapis roulant'?
angry ant
says...
10:38am Thu 8 Dec 11
m dee
says...
11:47am Thu 8 Dec 11
yorkshirelad wrote:Where does it say more lanes ? at the minute the road is a very tight squeeze for cyclists heading from Holgate road to blossom street, at this point many mount the payment to get passed cars,also coming from Queen street onto Blossom street is always going to be difficult whatever changes were made which is why many sensibly cyclists chose a alternative route.
The design of Blossom Street with it's multiple narrow lanes is just not appropriate. The recent redesign missed an opportunity. The watered down plans even when implemented do not work - where is the yellow box under Micklegate Bar to stop blocking, and the Advanced Cycle Light often doesn't work. More lanes = more traffic = more congestion,.
Eric Style
says...
11:59am Thu 8 Dec 11
yorkshirelad
says...
12:04pm Thu 8 Dec 11
m dee wrote:The original plans contained options to remove car lanes but of course these were rejected in favour of keeping current lanes. Hence my 'more lanes' comment. Reducing lanes here could have hugely increased safety at very little cost to traffic delays.
yorkshirelad wrote:Where does it say more lanes ? at the minute the road is a very tight squeeze for cyclists heading from Holgate road to blossom street, at this point many mount the payment to get passed cars,also coming from Queen street onto Blossom street is always going to be difficult whatever changes were made which is why many sensibly cyclists chose a alternative route.
The design of Blossom Street with it's multiple narrow lanes is just not appropriate. The recent redesign missed an opportunity. The watered down plans even when implemented do not work - where is the yellow box under Micklegate Bar to stop blocking, and the Advanced Cycle Light often doesn't work. More lanes = more traffic = more congestion,.
Von_Dutch
says...
12:27pm Thu 8 Dec 11
Eric Style wrote:Firstly, it was the Micklegate junction which was redesigned last year, not this one - this one's at the other end of Blossom St with its junction with Holgate Rd.
If they can pee £200k up the wall for a junction that was redesigned within the last year then why not chuck some cash at a new sports stadium!
Secondly, another £200K HAS just been chucked at the new stadium. And you can't just use money for transport improvements elsewhere. Anyone who knows local governments knows that budgets are ringfenced.
Von_Dutch
says...
12:30pm Thu 8 Dec 11
anonyork
says...
12:39pm Thu 8 Dec 11
n St are a complete farce! Try crossing the road from the Bar Convent side of the road to the opposite side (the widest bit of road, now with no traffic islands). It's fine if you can sprint across but walking at a normal pace will result in being still in the road when the lights change to red! Also, when you start to cross you can't see (or hear) whether the lights are green or red for pedestrians. It's an accident waiting to happen!
DEKKA
says...
1:34pm Thu 8 Dec 11
anonyork wrote:Couldn't agree more. The removal of the central islands has made this junction extremely dangerous, depite the councils continual claims that having to sprint across the roads has made it safer. Car, Buses and taxis ignore red lights and the '5 second' advance green for cyclists coming out of Queens Street never works. Buses have to stop somewhere but having upto 3 buses (FTRs and P&R) stopping on Blossom Street just clogs up the outward route. God help us if the 'improvements' to the Holgate junction go ahead.
The alterations to the Blossom Street/Nunnery Lane/Micklegate/Quee n St are a complete farce! Try crossing the road from the Bar Convent side of the road to the opposite side (the widest bit of road, now with no traffic islands). It's fine if you can sprint across but walking at a normal pace will result in being still in the road when the lights change to red! Also, when you start to cross you can't see (or hear) whether the lights are green or red for pedestrians. It's an accident waiting to happen!
york_chap
says...
4:44pm Thu 8 Dec 11
As for the 3 lanes on Blossom street, reducing these to two would, contrary to some posters' opinions, dramatically increase congestion. How do I know? I've been past there on many occasions when lorries are parked blocking 1 lane while delivering to the bars/hotels along there. The queues for the lights back up a LOT further than when all 3 lanes are available.
Magicman!
says...
2:43am Sun 11 Dec 11
New pedestrian crossings with radar sensors were subsequently installed together with measures to give cyclists turning out of Queen Street into Blossom Street a five-second head-start over other traffic.
The radar sensors just mean the pedestrian phase is on for much longer, and anybody stepping out even after the red man has come on just delays the traffic from getting a green light - so the whole junction is now at a standstaill for longer than it was before.
The green cycle light doesn't work 90% of the time, and where is the yellow box under micklegate bar to stop motorists blocking the cycle lane??
AnotherPointofView says...
8:32am Thu 8 Dec 11
Is that why we have the silly chicanes along the Huntington Road and Heslington/Main Street in Heslington?
They do nothing but irritate drivers and disrupt traffic flow.