TRANSPORT chiefs are considering a massive revamp of one of York’s busiest routes, to improve access and safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.

As part of the restructuring of the area around Fishergate, City of York Council could rip up the central reservation near the Bar Walls, to allow traffic to turn right from Fishergate into Piccadilly.

Other ideas include a bus gate, which would allow buses to go directly from Paragon Street to Fishergate, rather than via Fawcett Street; new bus lanes and bike lanes; and safety improvements at the spot where pedestrian Lucie Brabyn was killed in 2007, outside Toto’s Italian restaurant.

Ruth Egan, the council’s head of transport planning, said bus routes were currently several hundred metres longer than necessary, because of their inability to turn right into Piccadilly. Instead, they must go to the Tower Street roundabout, and back towards Fishergate before turning left.

“This detour affects 11 services and adds approximately 350 metres to 400 metres to the route,” she writes in a report to go before councillors next Tuesday.

Local Green Party councillor Dave Taylor said it was time to open the Fishergate/Piccadilly junction to some, if not all, traffic.

“We would certainly like buses, cycles and taxis to be able to turn right into Piccadilly. At the moment, they are having to go to the roundabout and turn round, which means commuters coming in by bus have to wait that bit longer and are just sitting there causing congestion.”

He said the new Peasholme Centre next door to the Masons Arms pub would add to pedestrian numbers, and a rethink of the entire route was needed.

He said: “The ‘Fishergate Gyratory’ needs looking at again. It has not worked properly and it creates this island (between Fawcett Street and Fishergate), for people who live on it.”

Steve Laing, landlord of the Seahorse Hotel in Fawcett Street, said: “The biggest problem is that there is no pedestrian crossing to the island.

“There is one half-way across, but you have the corner beside Toto’s which has not got lights or anything. There is no controlled pedestrian access to the island, and that’s the dangerous part.”

Members of the council’s city strategy panel will consider a report on the issue tomorrow, when they are likely to accept the principle that improvements are needed and to ask council officials to begin working on more detailed proposals for how safety and access can be improved.