Today, we’ve released the ideas for Foss Basin which suggest that a cycle route down Foss Basin would not be ideal and not encouraged. This is in part becasue there was an opinion contributed through My Castle Gateway process, including from people who are blind and partially sighted, that was very against shared space. But we also know lots of cyclists think shared space is great. It is a genuine tension. We’re seeking now to develop this conversation further through creating spaces where different people can hear each others views and experiences (see The Secret Life of York’s Public Space event)… if you scroll down there are a variety of ways to contribute to this conversation.
As we shared the idea for the Foss walk and cycling paths, we also wanted here to outline the other main cycling proposals:
· Provision of new off-road cycle routes through St George’s Field, and potentially the rear of Castle Museum linking with a new bridge across the Foss will help to link up with the city centre cycle network.
· Proposed Tower Street (North) improvements will also improve connections for cyclists linking to the city centre network, there will need to be further work – as part of the ongoing My Castle Gateway process – on what these are, like to happen in the summer 2018.
· Remodelling of Tower Street and Skeldergate Bridge junction with integrated pedestrian/cycle ‘supercrossing’ and proposed improvements to Coppergate will make significant contribution to the Strategic Pedestrian & Cycle Improvement Corridor as identified in the Publication draft Local Plan.
· Proposed public realm improvements include new/additional cycle racks to increase provision across the city centre. We will be working with MCG (movement identified as a key theme) and CYC (sustainable transport) as part of next stage of work to identify appropriate locations (e.g. St George’s Field and other key points providing access to the Eye of York, Coppergate Centre and Piccadilly).
· Proposed public realm improvements will look to include new bike hubs as part of the Bike Share Scheme (eg. possible locations at Spark York and St George’s Field). We will be working with CYC (sustainable transport), York BID and MCG (movement – key theme)
· At this stage we don’t think there will be a right turn for cyclists from Tower Street to Skeldergate Bridge. We will continue to model as part of the detailed design but the phasing would have a significant impact on traffic flows. But there will be further exploration of this once we look at detail design in the next stages of work in Spring and summer of this year.
Next steps:
If you’d like to be involved in the future of cycling in York, keep in touch
We have an event on tomorrow called ‘The Secret Life of York’s Public Spaces’ looking and movement and public space from ots of different perspectives including form the perspectives of soeone who is partially sighted and perspective of a cycle courier.
We’re also in the process of developing a public event on the walk and cycle proposals – if you’d like to be kept in the loop on that and hear directly about the event, email: mycastlegateway.com
Whilst I understand the logic, it is worth emphasising that the Blue Bridge is currently intimidating for many cyclists and a hard barrier for adapted cycles, including recumberents, cargo bikes and hand cycles. A dedicated route through St.Georges field sounds great on paper, but it is only as good as its weakest point: the Blue Bridge
Thanks Jamie, point noted and we will ensure this is passed on the City of York Council team. As with post to Andy above, hoping we can have an event soon to look at where the masterplan has taken a view (this issue of cycling and blue bridge is one of them) on walking and cycling routes and put them to the test a bit – including looking seriously at the issues you raise in terms of the incline and issues of wheel base.
“At this stage we don’t think there will be a right turn for cyclists from Tower Street to Skeldergate Bridge. We will continue to model as part of the detailed design but the phasing would have a significant impact on traffic flows” Please explain why this will cause any more delay than the addition of the new junction for the car park and a signal controlled crossing of the dual carriageway? Surely the lights will be linked, and if the stop line set slightly back right turning traffic could go when the crossing and right turn phase for the car park is operational?
Thanks Andy – hoping we can get a Walking and Cycling event together in April where the Council can share the modelling and look at the issues yet to be decided. Will post details as soon as we have them confirmed.