DRIVERS are being warned that a major road through York could be closed on various occasions in the months ahead.

City of York Council say that Leeman Road in York will be closed to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians between its junctions with Station Rise and Station
Avenue at Memorial Gardens and between points 65 metres east and 60 metres west of Marble Arch Bridge and on Cinder Lane between its junction with Leeman Road and a 25 metres south-west of there between midnight tomorrow February 18 and ending at 10am on Sunday, April 30.

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A council spokesman said: "It is envisaged that the section of Leeman Road adjacent to Memorial Gardens will only be closed, when required, between 8pm and 6am each night and Marble Arch tunnel closures will only commence, when required, once the last bus services have passed through.

"Closures will be advertised on road signs at least ten days before.

"Alternative routes for diverted pedestrians and vehicles will be signed during the works period."

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A large section of Cinder Lane, the footpath which runs between Leeman Road and Wilton Rise, behind York Railway Station, is also currently closed for York Central development work. The path is set to remain closed until Sunday, March 5.

The 45 acre York Central development promises up to 2,500 new homes and over 1 million sq ft of offices, retail and leisure space as part of a new high-quality commercial and residential quarter for York.

The project includes the National Railway Museum’s controversial proposals to build a new central hall across Leeman Road, which will block direct access to the city centre for local residents but won planning permission in the Summer.

The first phase is expected to deliver up to 650,000 sq ft of commercial space and 700 homes on the site, located next to York Railway Station and is predominantly owned by Network Rail and Homes England.

Government agencies Homes England and Network Rail officially launched the procurement process to secure a strategic development partner for York Central back in July, as The Press reported at the time.

Global property consultancy JLL was appointed in April to find such a company.

The vast site is a legacy of York’s railway history. The first engine sheds and sidings began to be built in the middle 1800s, with many more being added after York’s new railway station was opened in 1878.

The site evolved with York’s rail industry, and by the mid 1900s, when that industry was at its height, the area was a hive of activity, with carriageworks, maintenance sheds and depots, marshalling yards and sidings.