Plans to restrict traffic from station to Tower Street, York

Number plate recognition cameras would be used to enforce restrictions along the route which would run from York Station to Tower Street under council proposals.

City of York Council’s transport spokesperson Cllr Kate Ravilious said it was among the measures needed to help free up local roads for more bus, walking and cycling journeys.

But council official Julian Ridge said plans including bus network improvements and walking and cycling infrastructure upgrades faced uncertainty over funding with a proposed two-year timescale for them also questioned.

The schemes come as part of the council’s proposed Local Transport Strategy Implementation Plan.

That in turn follows the approval of the council’s new Transport Strategy in July which aims to cut car journeys in York by a fifth by 2030.

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The city centre Sustainable Transport Route is among the short-term goals set out in the Implementation Plan which went before councillors on Tuesday, September 24.

They heard that number plate recognition cameras would be used to enforce a traffic filtering system similar to that already in place in Coppergate.

Through traffic would be restricted to buses, the emergency services, Blue Badge holders and others who would be exempt from restrictions.

The route would start at the front of York Station and run along Rougier Street, George Hudson Street, Micklegate, Ouse Bridge, Clifford Street and end at Tower Street.

A bus in York

A report on the plan stated it would substantially reduce private traffic in the city centre, enhance air quality, improve bus service reliability and make walking and cycling safer.

It added buses and active modes of travel such as cycling already accounted for two thirds of traffic along the route.

Councillors heard officials were also interested in trying to get enforcement powers for ‘School Streets’ which use filtering to restrict through traffic during pupil pick up and drop off times.

The Implementation Strategy also includes an ambition for all of York’s principal bus services to be every 10 minutes during weekdays.

The council also plans to explore options to replace Dial & Ride, the door-to-door minibus service for the elderly and disabled which ceased at the end of last year.

There are also plans to create ‘Copenhagen Crossings’ which are designed to make getting across junctions safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Electrifying more of York’s bus fleet, introducing a new e-bike and e-scooter hire service, expanding 20mph speed limits and curbing pollution in areas with poor air quality are also proposed.

But transport strategy lead Mr Ridge told councillors there was uncertainty including over funding after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government was facing a £22 billion black hole in public finances.

He added that possible changes to York and North Yorkshire’s Combined Authority given the Labour Government’s desire to expand devolution made planning beyond the next two years difficult.

York Conservative group leader Cllr Chris Steward said the plan’s two-year timeframe would not be long enough to achieve the proposals.

Cllr Stephen Fenton, transport spokesperson for York’s Liberal Democrat group, said the proposed Sustainable Route raised more questions than answers.

Kate Ravilious

Ruling Labour’s Cllr Ravilious said she was conscious of concerns about the two-year timescale and said the council would have to prioritise which schemes it could do.

The transport spokesperson said: “Part of the reason this is a two-year plan is my impatience and me saying to officers we can do all this.

“But it’s obvious that some of these schemes will take longer than two years and it’s going to be about which ones we can do first.”