Success! But also work to do....

We've got good news and bad news for you. The good news is that today the Government announced that it had awarded York £658,350 for phase 2 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund.

You can find out more about these proposals here. We're very excited about the proposed walk/cycle link between Heslington and Wheldrake, the improvements on the dangerous A1237 Outer Ring Road river/rail bridge and the segregated cycle route along the A19 Shipton Rd. Thank you all for signing this petition and helping to make this happen.

The bad news is that the council's proposed designs for the scheme to dual the Outer Ring Road are a complete disaster for pedestrians and cyclists. They will result in severing outling villages from the city, leaving people with no option but to drive. But all is not lost. The council is consulting on its scheme and the design could easily be improved to provide safe access for cyclists and pedestrians. The more voices the council hears, the more likely they are to listen so we urge you to submit feedback here. Comments need to be submitted by Monday 16th November. 

Below are a few points that you might like to consider in your feedback to the council.

York's Local Transport Plan follows guidelines set down in National Policy Guidelines, particularly seeking to reduce car usage and make greater use of walking, cycling and public transport. At the heart of York's Transport strategy lies its commitment to a hierarchy of transport users, placing pedestrians at the top, followed by people with mobility problems, then cyclists, and placing motorists at the bottom. The plans to dual the Outer Ring Road fail to uphold this commitment. 

The Department for Transport's 'Gear Change' document is Government policy and needs to be embedded in City of York Council's standards. The following principles from Gear Change are not being met in the current scheme to dual the Outer Ring Road:

1 - Cycle infrastructure should be accessible to everyone from 8 to 80.

2 - Cyclists must be treated as vehicles and physically separated from pedestrians, with separate parallel routes at crossings and junctions. 

3 - Cyclists must be physically separated and protected from high volume motor traffic.

6 - To receive Government funding for highways investment where the main element is not cycling or walking there will be a presumption that schemes must deliver or improve cycle infrastructure to the standards of the LTN1/20. 

18 - Cycle routes must flow, feeling direct and logical.

20 - Designers of cycle schemes must experience the roads as a cyclist.

21 - Schemes must be consistent. 

With the exception of the Haxby Road roundabout, cycle provision woefully fails to pass the junction assessment outlined in LTN1/20. 

And lastly, if you've read all the way to here perhaps you might like to join York Cycle Campaign?! The more members we have the stronger our voice, and together we can make cycling in York safe, convenient and accessible for absolutely everyone.