York Outer Ring Road

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The York Outer Ring Road is a ring road around the city of York, England. The south-eastern section is part of the A64 and the north-western section is the A1237.

History[]

An outer ring road for York had been proposed as far back as 1948[1] but it wasn't until 1976 that the first section, the York Bypass, opened. The second section was constructed in three phases. The first phase, the northern section between the A19 and the A64, opened in 1986, the second and third sections opened the following year - phase two was between the A64 and the A59 and phase three was the short section between the A59 and A19 - this section took longer to construct due to it having to cross the River Ouse and the East Coast Main Line. Phase three was opened by the Secretary of State for Transport Paul Channon on 11 December 1987.

Route[]

The south-eastern section (A64) runs as a continuous dual carriageway with grade separated junctions at Grimston Bar (A1079/A166), Fulford (A19) and Askham Bar (A1036).

The north-western section (A1237) is a single carriageway road, and has eleven roundabouts.

Proposed improvements[]

Several bodies have proposed improvements to the single carriageway A1237. These include:

  • Dualling the road by 2030 as detailed in the North Yorkshire Strategic Prospectus.[2]
  • In the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund (York Schemes), improvements to seven roundabouts between the Wetherby Road and Monks Cross junctions. The design includes ensuring room for future dualling of the carriageways; increasing the number of approach and exit lanes at the roundabouts; enlarging their diameter; three subways for pedestrians/cyclists at busy crossing points and two bridges to accommodate a widened road.[3]
  • On 3 March 2015 the Executive of York City Council resolved to progress Option 1 of the report into improvements to the York Outer Ring Road. This was to carry out the work recommended in the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund (York Schemes)[4]

However two previous proposed improvements were rejected. Immediately after the opening of the single carriageway A1237 congestion became a problem, especially at peak times, and the 1989 Department for Transport's Roads for Prosperity white paper included improvements to the section between (A19 to the A64). The proposals were for a new continuous through-route running parallel to the existing road with just a single grade separated junction at the B1363. The existing road, and the roundabouts, would have been retained for local access. The plans were subsequently dropped.[5] Also later plans for dualling 7.8 km, at a cost £31M, of the A1237 York Outer Ring Road were rejected by the Regional Transport Board in 2009.[6]

Timeline[]

  • 1976: A64 York bypass completed
  • 1984: Start of construction of A1237 Phase I (A19 to A64)
  • 1985: Start of construction of A1237 Phase II (A64 to A59) and Phase III (A59 to A19)
  • 1986: Phase I completed
  • September 1987: Phase II completed
  • December 1987: Phase III completed

References[]

  1. ^ Bill Fawcett. "1948 Plan for the City of York" (PDF). York Civic Trust. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  2. ^ "North Yorkshire Strategic Prospectus" (PDF). North Yorkshire County Council. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. ^ "West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund (York Schemes)" (PDF). West Yorkshire Council. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ "York Outer Ring Road Improvement Scheme". City of York Council. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Nationwide list of dropped schemes". The Independent. 30 March 1994. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Better Transport UK". Campaign for Better Transport. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
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