ONE major riverbank route into York city centre will reopen on time despite another staying closed for double the original scheduled time, the Environment Agency has said.

Both the foot and cycle route under Lendal Bridge and Terry Avenue have been closed to all traffic from early May to allow for flood defences to be upgraded.

At the time, the Environment Agency said Lendal Bridge would reopen in July for "the start of the school holidays" and Terry Avenue would close for 12 months.

But with the autumn term underway the Lendal Bridge route is still closed and is now expected to remain so until October 22. .

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “This delay has no impact on the closure of Terry Avenue, which is progressing as planned.”

The Lendal Bridge closure is to install new flood gates.

The delay was caused because when they started digging on the site workmen discovered that large concrete slabs covered two high voltage power cables they needed to access before installing the foundations and frame for the new floodgate.

“The cables provide power to half of the properties in York so the concrete had to be removed very carefully to ensure the power supply to the city was not disrupted," the spokesman said.

Anyone not able to climb the steps from South Esplanade to Lendal Bridge, including those in wheelchairs currently has to cross the York Inner Ring Road to continue their journey along the river.

Terry Avenue runs from Millennium Bridge to Skeldergate Bridge and is popular with commuters and others seeking a quiet and generally traffic free route into the city centre along the west side of the River Ouse.

Its closure means that cyclists and pedestrians are expected to use diversions crossing Bishopthorpe Road through South Bank across Nunnery Lane and through Bishopshill to Skeldergate close to Micklegate, or along Bishopthorpe Road to Skeldergate to continue their journeys.

During the closure, the Environment Agency plans to install a new flood gate at the junction of Clementhorpe and Terry Avenue and install or upgrade flood walls and other flood defences on its length.