THE traffic ban in York city centre is set to be extended in a bid to make streets safer and more welcoming to shoppers.
Council leader James Alexander said an accident involving two delivery vans outside the Mansion House yesterday had shown the need for tighter restrictions on delivery lorries and beefed up enforcement.
He now plans to force delivery vehicles to leave the city earlier in the morning, and is considering widening the pedestrian zone to include more streets.
He also resurrected the idea of a distribution centre on the city’s outskirts, where large lorries could unload goods on to smaller vans.
While no one was hurt in yesterday’s collision, one vehicle was damaged. Coun Alexander said the crash showed that York’s roads were not built for large delivery trucks, which gave the impression that the city was not open for business.
He said: “It is also gives an impression the city centre is unwelcoming to shoppers, while also causing a safety concern.”
He said the new Labour council would begin to extend the hours of pedestrianisation, initially by moving the start time from 11am to 10.30am. He said the effects would be monitored before extending the hours further in the morning and evening.
Tory opposition leader Ian Gillies yesterday submitted a request for a committee to scrutinise the whole issue of pedestrianisation, saying he did not want mere “piecemeal changes”.
He said he wanted a committee to look at the hours but also tougher enforcement and whether any extra streets should be included, with Fossgate and St Sampson’s Square two places with potential for a traffic ban.
Coun Alexander said he also wished to “extend the geography” of pedestrianisation.
There has been consultation with the city’s retail strategy group and there will be further talks over proposed changes.
Coun Alexander said there would be no pulling back from his party’s manifesto commitment to extend hours as part of a drive to revitalise the city centre.
He said: “Ultimately, York needs a scheme similar to Oxford where a site on the outskirts of York can be used for deliveries on large wagons to be unloaded on to smaller and cleaner vehicles to enter the city centre. However, the cost is currently prohibitive.”
Adam Sinclair, who runs Mulberry Hall in Stonegate and chairs York Business Forum, said he would support starting pedestrianisation at 10.30am and having tighter enforcement, as it helped York’s efforts to be a high-class retail environment.
But he said there would be practical problems if the start was brought back much further, as goods still needed to be delivered to shops.
Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of the tourism organisation Visit York, said she would fully support any plans to make the city centre more attractive to residents and visitors.
“However, it’s vitally important that we consult with the businesses and retailers to ensure any new arrangements can be made to work. We are keen to promote an outdoor café culture in York which could be helped by these new plans.”
Who can put a price on safety?
SOME scoffed, but many agreed when Professor Alan Simpson published his New City Beautiful report. Part of his master plan includes York’s city centre being virtually car free in 30 years, with a ring of country parks on the outer ring road that would double as beauty spots and park and ride sites.
Central to Prof Simpson’s idea is the Great Street with seating areas and public squares where people want to chat over coffee free of the incessant roar of lorries, buses and cars.
This vision of utopia made sense earlier in the year. Now it makes even more sense in the wake of an accident involving delivery trucks near the Mansion House yesterday. After the accident, City of York Council said it would restrict the times commercial vehicles are allowed in the city centre and that would be a welcome start.
Some traders won’t be pleased though and it is important that they are part of the discussions before any decision is made. But our medieval streets weren’t designed to cope with lorries – and they don’t. Instead Coun James Alexander says York needs a system like the one in Oxford, where large wagons park on the outskirts and offload to smaller clean vehicles that would take the goods into the city.
The trouble is, he says, the cost would be prohibitive. But what price the safety of pedestrians? Prof Simpson’s vision might offer some clues about making the Oxford scheme affordable here and that would stop the streets being so clogged and certainly reduce the number of lorries trying to find a space to unload.
Better still, it might prevent accidents involving delivery vans.
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