Highways bosses have published their blueprint for transport in York over the next 15 years. Mike Laycock examines the details of - and reactions to - the draft proposals.

YORK'S new draft Local Transport Plan will fail to tackle the city's congestion problems and boost public transport, a leading opposition councillor claimed today.

Labour transport spokeswoman Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing said the proposals simply did not go far enough.

'This plan doesn't come up with any really new ideas, and doesn't do enough to address the major congestion problems we will be facing over the coming years," she said.

"There are no new Park&Ride schemes proposed, only ones that were already being prepared when Labour ran the council.

That's well over two years ago now, and you have to wonder what has been done since?"

Coun Simpson-Laing said she was also concerned that local people had not been properly consulted on the plan so far, and had not been informed of the real choices and implications.

"I'm concerned that residents aren't being offered the real choices that are facing the council. Instead they're being offered one, in our view unacceptable, option.

"The new Local Transport Plan (LTP) as it stands may make things easier for those driving into York, but it offers virtually nothing to the vast majority of York residents who live within the ring road.

"They will actually see a worsening of congestion over the next five years if this plan goes ahead, and a worsening of already unacceptable air quality in some areas."

She also claimed that some of the proposed restrictions for city bridges being put forward would have "very negative consequences" for specific communities, and generate additional rat-running through many residential areas.

Green party spokesman Coun Andy D'Agorne said he welcomed proposals for sustainable transport, but had concerns about plans to lodge a separate bid for up to £35 million to build a new link road into the York Central site from the outer ring road.

He said it was essential to improve congestion on the A19 through Fulford into York.

One reason why the Askham Bar Park&Ride was so popular was that some motorists would drive past the Designer Outlet Park & Ride to use it, because the buses faced so much congestion coming into York down Fulford Road.

The council's executive member for transport, Coun Ann Reid, said during yesterday's launch of the draft plan that it would build on the success of the current LTP, which had helped make York the Local Transport Authority of the Year in 2003, and meant it was now named as a Centre of Excellence for Transport.

"I believe that the LTP2 will bring further transport gains to all sections of the city," she said.

"There will be huge further investment in all modes of transport, personal and public."

She said that there had already been unprecedented consultation prior to drawing up the draft, and there would be a further full consultation exercise in the autumn before the final version is submitted to the Government next year.

:: Public transport - Buses only 400 metres away

THE council says it wants to use the Local Transport Plan to build a revolutionary public transport system, under which no one living inside the outer ring road would have to walk more than 400 metres to catch a bus or other service.

The authority wants new bus services that would eventually create a comprehensive network, going around and across the city, dubbed The York Overground.

In the city centre, it wants to introduce a new electric mini-tram service, which could negotiate the narrow streets without giving off any pollution. It says this tram - which would not run on rails - would provide easy access to shops from car parks for people who are less mobile, but it would also link up various attractions. The pioneering "FTR Streetcar" bus, offering radically different seating and comfort for passengers, which is already due to be launched next February on the Service 4 route, would be brought in on other key routes over the next 15 years.

Park&Ride, which has helped prevent congestion worsening in recent years in York, would be expanded, with a new service operating from near the A59's junction with the outer ring road, and a doubling of the capacity of the heavily-used Askham Bar service. The service at the Fulford Designer Outlet would also be expanded and re-located within the site.

To help buses beat the traffic jams, the document proposes new bus priority lanes on the A19, both in Fulford and Rawcliffe, the A59 and Wigginton Road.

And to help passengers tell when the next bus will arrive, more stops will be fitted with electronic information signs under the BLISS system (Bus Location Information Sub System).

The council says BLISS will also ensure buses running late get priority through traffic lights.

Meanwhile, bus operators such as First will be encouraged to convert their buses to low-emission vehicles.

:: York's bridges - Routes may be closed

AROUND £7 million may be spent improving the outer ring road, but dualling it is not an option.

The money would be spent instead on three specific improvements - to the A59, Hopgrove and Moor Lane junctions. It is hoped this would make it possible eventually to restrict the use of Lendal Bridge - a key part of the inner ring road - to buses and greener vehicles. The Lib Dems say this would protect bus service reliability.

But the council may restrict the use of another bridge, Ouse Bridge, much more quickly than that. Officers point out that this bridge is not part of the inner ring road.

:: Cycling and walking

THE authority says there has been a dramatic increase in cycle use in York in recent years, and it wants to build on this by planning to spend £4.2 million on providing safe off-road routes for cyclists and pedestrians.

It is suggesting a new cycle/foot bridge should be built alongside Clifton Bridge, removing a "pinch" point currently suffered by cyclists trying to cross the Ouse. At the A59's junction with the outer ring road, cyclists and pedestrians going along the A59 to and from York might be given a new subway to help them cross the busy ring road. There could be new cycle and pedestrian paths alongside sections of the outer ring road to the north of York. The plan's target is to increase the number of people cycling by five per cent, with a four per cent increase in the number of people cycling, walking or taking the bus to work. It also looks for a 15 per cent rise in the number of people walking in the city centre, but a five per cent reduction in the number of car journeys to work.

The council says it has been calculated that, if no action is taken, traffic levels would rise by 27 per cent over the next 15 years alone.

The draft Local Transport Plan will now be put to the council's executive later this month before being submitted to the Government.

There will then be extensive public consultation in the autumn before a final version is drawn up, which will be submitted to the Government early next year.

Updated: 10:02 Saturday, July 16, 2005