York Central work means Water End will close for a month

John Sisk & Son, who are putting in site infrastructure including road, cycle and pedestrian access at the York Central site behind York Railway Station say work will be taking place at Water End from Monday, March 27, on the embankments of Severus Road bridge next to the East Coast Main Line railway and opposite the back of Poppleton Road School. 

The work will allow Sisk to prepare the area for the construction of a footbridge across the railway, next to the existing Severus road bridge.

Water End will be closed at its junction with Poppleton Road overnight from 9pm – 5am, Monday-Friday for four weeks apart from bank holidays. This will mean a diversion will be in place for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists which will use a temporary pedestrian crossing to the north side of the bridge, where the footpath remains open at all times.

Traffic will be diverted via the ring road using the A59 and A19 and through the city centre.

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The York Central site from Holgate (Image: Haydn Lewis)

A spokesperson for Sisk said: "We have liaised with the local bus services and have agreed that we are able to allow access for the number 10 bus during our work so those using this service will be able to continue as normal.

"We have has worked hard to ensure our work has minimal impact on residents and businesses nearby and we will be using machines and techniques to achieve this."

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 commercial and residential quarter for York.

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.

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.

The site was a major York employer. In the 1950s, there were more than 3,000 people employed at the York Carriageworks alone.

These works were bought by ABB in 1989. But already the writing was on the wall. In 1996, the ABB Carriageworks were closed, and more than 750 staff were laid off.

The works were re-opened by American firm Thrall Europa in 1997, but closed again in 2002, when the remaining 260 workers were laid off.