ONE of York's busiest city centre roads was shut today - as council engineers started a two-week scheme to rip up and resurface Gillygate.

The usually packed street was deserted when highway workers arrived at the scene shortly after 8am, and nearby roads were also unusually quiet for a Monday morning, as drivers apparently heeded warnings to find other routes.

City of York Council said the resurfacing work, which will close the road between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Friday until November 11, was essential because of the poor condition of the surface and for vital safety reasons.

But the project was expected to cause problems for traders in the street, who fear their businesses will be hit hard - with shoppers avoiding the area altogether.

Bootham was uncharacteristically quiet for the rush hour, as was Lord Mayor's Walk, the other end of the city-wide diversion route.

Bosses at bus company First, which at one point said it would scrap its journeys to York Hospital because of potential delays, before finally reaching a solution which ensured services still go to and from the hospital, were taking a close interest in any difficulties caused by the beginning of the mammoth construction project.

Peter Edwards, First's commercial director, was at the scene early today in Gillygate, monitoring the effect the start of the work was having on services, some of which were being rerouted through Bootham.

He said: "We are trying to get as many of our supervisors on the ground today as possible to try and minimise any potential problems.

"Although information about the closure has previously been released, some of our customers may still have missed it.

"It's too early to say what the full effect of this closure might be."

Traders in Gillygate fear the resurfacing will hit their businesses, as pedestrians were avoiding the area this morning, as well as vehicles.

Trevor Fenwick, of toy shop Bubbles, told the Evening Press earlier this year that the work would "really hurt trade".

"We have got enough problems with summer parking charges without this. Why do they have to do it now? This could cause gridlock."

Today he said: "We will have to wait and see the effects. We have got to open up, but I think it is going to be tough.

"Bootham is absolutely empty, but I think we will have to wait until towards the middle of the week to see how much this will affect our trade."

Mr Fenwick said this time of year was the period when trade started to pick up as customers began buying presents for the Christmas period.

"I believe that they could have done this after Christmas," he said.

Why the work is needed

ESSENTIAL resurfacing is the reason council chiefs said they were compelled to shut Gillygate - one of York's busiest city centre roads.

Highways engineers said the poor condition of the road, which thousands of vehicles use every day, was such that the work had become essential for safety reasons.

Night work was considered out of the question because of residents who live in the street, so the council was forced to timetable its work between 8am and 6pm from today until November 11.

It has also proved impossible to close just one lane of the road, because the maintenance equipment needed to carry out the resurfacing work is too large to allow traffic to pass it.

Updated: 09:49 Monday, October 31, 2005