York is set to bid for more than £2 million from the Government to help build new railway stations at Haxby and Strensall.

And another £1.2 million may be sought to boost pedestrian and cyclist safety, and improve street lighting and traffic management in the city.

City of York Council is putting together a submission to the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions for spending on the local transport infrastructure in 1999/2000.

A report to Thursday's planning and transport committee urges councillors to seek £2.1 million to build stations at Haxby and Strensall, including car parking and access and passenger facilities.

"Discussions are currently taking place with Railtrack and Northern Spirit (formerly Regional Railways North East) regarding the development of these stations and the possibility of securing a part-contribution to the scheme," says the report by Dave Curtis, assistant director (development and transport).

He said the results of these talks will be reported to the meeting, and added: "A detailed appraisal will be required for Railtrack to convince them to support the scheme."

Up to 350 passengers a day would be expected to use the Haxby station, more than half transferring from their private car.

Councillors are also urged to bid for £228,000 and £222,000 for pedestrian and cycle schemes respectively, while another £210,000 may be sought for bus/taxi priority schemes.

Pedestrian schemes might include improved crossing facilities on the Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, and measures to help pedestrians on the A19 Fulford Road.

The council may also bid for £180,000 to help it provide safe routes to school, £120,000 for street lighting schemes and £240,000 for traffic management schemes. Schemes will address the needs of disabled people as much as possible.

Further bids recommended by officers, taking the total bid up to £4.5 million, include:

£548,000 towards structural maintenance of principal roads into the city

£420,000 towards structural maintenance and assessment of bridges

The report says bridges need to be strengthened to be able to cope with 40-tonne lorries, in line with EU legislation. Included in the bid is £400,000 to strengthen the bridge over the River Foss in Piccadilly.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.