(Image: Dylan Connell)
Press readers have reacted to City of York Council’s £34 million overspend on work to revamp the area outside the station, with one deeming it an “absolute omnishambles”.
City of York Council said it understood “residents’ frustration” over the costs involved with the Station Gateway scheme, the bill for which currently stands at £60.1 million.
The council insisted that it has “strengthened governance arrangements for current and future major projects”, meaning “cost increases are far less likely to happen”.
It follows more than 900 people signing an online petition calling on the council to explain “how a £26 million project became a £60 million project”.
It also comes after The Press revealed that some of history’s most iconic structures, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building, were built in less time than the Station Gateway project.
The York Station Gateway project has seen the outside of the station revamped
(Image: Dylan Connell)
Work on the Station Gateway project first began in 2023 with an original budget of £26 million.
But an audit has since ruled there had been “critical” weaknesses in the management of the scheme.
Veritau auditors found the council entered contracts for the works “at risk” before legal agreements had sufficiently progressed, with changes to the project later causing delays and pushing up costs.
It also found there were significant delays in reporting overspends on the project which stopped them being dealt with sooner.
The project was originally set to be finished by May last year.
The York Station Gateway project has seen the outside of the station revamped
(Image: Dylan Connell)
Issues have emerged since last year including more works being needed to strengthen York’s walls, the discovery of an underground Victorian water tank and delays in moving an electricity substation.
Most of the £5.4 million overspend racked up since last year is set to be covered using cash unspent on other transport projects, according to council officials.
Press readers shared their thoughts on the York Station Gateway work on the newspaper’s website.
'We still get stuck in traffic' after work, says reader
Commenter EveryVoiceCounts claimed the length of time taken to carry out the work had “blighted” the lives of residents in nearby Queen Street.
“They’ve suffered immeasurably for it - another failed area of the project,” EveryVoiceCounts wrote.
The commenter also said they would “welcome an independent inquiry” into the project.
Commenter Mikeymike94, who said they regularly drop off people at the station, wrote: “We seem to have spent £60 million and gone through years of disruption, for no real benefit.
“We still drop customers off where we always did. We still get stuck in traffic in Station Road when the drop off point gets blocked.
“Now we can't turn right on leaving the station and therefore have to add to the queues around the gyratory on Station Rise."
They added: “The whole area still looks a complete mess with temporary barriers all around. Great job, CYC.”
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Meanwhile, yorkierob adopted the tone of Peter Capaldi’s character Malcolm Tucker in the BBC political satire the Thick of It, saying the project had been an “absolute omnishambles”.
“This whole demonstration of staggering incompetence does not bode well for the Rougier street project and Clifford's Tower,” they wrote.
The council spokesperson said aspects of the Station Gateway scheme outside the local authority’s control, such as unmapped utilities and inflationary pressures, have “impacted both the cost and delivery of the scheme, while others have been detailed in audit and other council reports, including making improvements to the original design”.
“Following last year's changes to the scheme’s overall budget and an independent audit, as well as cross-party scrutiny by a council committee, we have strengthened governance arrangements for current and future major projects, with all of the audit's recommendations now adopted, meaning cost increases are far less likely to happen.
“The highways elements of the Station Gateway scheme are now in their final stage and we continue to work with our partners to complete them. Once complete, the Station Gateway scheme will have a transformative effect on the area in front of the station, with dedicated cycle lanes, modern new bus stops and quality public spaces, all with the incredible backdrop of part of the city walls revealed for the first time in decades.”