A councillor has said a delay to a £6.4 million scheme to improve one of York’s busiest roads is “disappointing”.
As The Press reported, City of York Council today (Thursday, October 19) announced that ongoing work in Tadcaster Road, which was due to be completed last month (September), will now be finished at the end of February 2024.
Cllr Stephen Fenton, ward councillor for Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, said the delay has been “obvious for some time”.
“I was told a few weeks ago that the works would not be completed until the end of January, so it’s disappointing to now find out that there will be a further month’s delay,” he told The Press.
“It’s unfortunate that the issues that have caused the delays have not been better communicated to residents, businesses and local councillors.”
The Liberal Democrat added that he feared some of the work may be scaled back or dropped to keep within budget.
“In addition to the drainage works, the original scheme included a number of improvements designed to benefit cyclists, pedestrians and bus users,” he said.
“I am concerned that some of these may be scaled back or dropped altogether to keep within budget.
“I learned earlier this month that a plan to relocate a street light to improve safety at a junction on Tadcaster Road had been dropped on cost grounds, and in response I asked council officers for information on the likely revised scope of the scheme. I hope to receive this information as soon as possible.”
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The council’s executive member for transport, Cllr Pete Kilbane, said the council is “keenly focused” on how major road works are scheduled to minimise disruption.
“The Tadcaster Road works are a huge scheme that we inherited when we came into office,” he told The Press.
“We are keenly focussed on how major roadworks are scheduled to ensure where works are necessary, that we minimise disruption for residents.
“It looks like the scheduling of this scheme, which got underway back in January, was overly optimistic but our focus now must be on working through the issues to get it delivered in the quickest possible timescale.
“As a council we are going to have to improve our timetabling to ensure extended disruptions like this are avoided in future.”
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