One-way traffic plan for busy city tunnel

PLANS TO boost the transport infrastructure around one of the biggest brownfield sites in the country could see a landmark tunnel made one way to traffic.

A planning application for the next stage of the York Central project includes new roads, segregated cycle routes, footpaths, extra bus routes and a bridge over the East Coast Mainline.

Under the plans, the Leeman Road tunnel, which runs near to the entrance of the National Railway Museum, will be reduced to a single carriageway for traffic, with a one-way system controlled by traffic lights.

The other lane will be turned into a cycling route.

Managers from bus companies as well as passengers raised concerns about plans to reduce the Leeman Road tunnel to a single lane when the idea was first raised in 2018, amid fears that the restrictions could lead to long queues of traffic.

But a spokesman for York Council said the plans prioritise sustainable transport such as cycling, walking and bus travel in response to what residents have said about the site.

A new spine road is also set to be built through the York Central site – stretching from a junction at Water End to Cinder Street – which would run behind the station – and then to Leeman Road Tunnel.

Council leader Keith Aspden said: “York Central has enormous potential to deliver a wide-range of benefits to the city, including new homes, new jobs and new sustainable transport links in the heart of the city.

“Together with our partners, we have placed public engagement at the centre of our plans to provide the homes, jobs and public spaces which the city needs.”

The York Central development, which spans 111 acres on land around the city’s railway station, is set to include 2,500 homes and a commercial quarter creating up to 6,500 jobs and adding a £1.16bn boost to the economy.