Councillor speaks out over major roadwork project in York suburb

Road workers in Beckfield Lane (Image: Provided)

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Search the Public Notice Portal A COUNCILLOR has reassured the public after communication issues over a major roadworks project in a York suburb.

Jason Rose, councillor for Acomb ward, has spoken out to reassure people over the Beckfield Lane project - telling residents that it is on track to be completed roughly on time and disruption will be kept to a minimum.

The resurfacing project - which follows recent upgrades in the area, including footpath resurfacing, drainage improvements, new bus shelters and improved tactile crossings - started last Monday (August 17) with Beckfield Lane itself set to be closed during the day while workers prepare the road.

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The project is broken down into two phases with phase one running from Wetherby Road to Ostman Road, and phase two from Ostman Road to Lidgett Grove.

However, a number of residents contacted The Press prior to the start of this project, claiming that they were not informed about the works – which left some people worried that they would not be able to access their own streets, until councillors were able to clarify issues around access just days before the start of the works.

There have also been issues with information posted on the bus stop, stating that some routes were out of use when buses were still actively using the route.

Cllr Jason Rose

(Image: Provided)

Cllr Rose told The Press that many of the issues surrounding the works were revealed to the ward councillors at a similar time to residents - having only learnt about the wider impact of the words less than a fortnight before the planned start date.

He said: “I don’t think anyone thought much of it when we saw there was going to be roadworks on Beckfield Lane, it was great news in theory, but we only found out the extent of it at the end of July.

“It’s the fact that it was this scale and there’s more than 1,500 homes affected – one week’s notice was just not enough here. We’re not sure how this happened, but we’re looking into it.

“Myself and Katie Lomas,a fellow ward councillor, delivered letters by hand to the places that didn’t get one before the works began. There are also some areas like Knapton Lane which could get out another way, so they didn’t receive letters at all.”

Fresh tarmac

(Image: Provided)

Aside from changes to waste collection, Jason says the project is roughly running as expected with updates shared to the council’s website on a regular basis to let people know.

Originally, the full project was expected to be finished by September 4 to minimise disruption for the end of the school Summer holidays, however due to heavy rain, it will overlap with the first day of term time - September 8.

Cllr Rose said: “One delay is that there have been more residents excluded from side streets by the project than planned, so there’s been lenience to reduce disruption but obviously, that does cause disruption to those planning the roads.

“These things were always in the contingency window of six to ten days, which is what I’ve been telling people, but the letter said exactly six days was the plan – instead of giving them less specific information, which would have been more accurate.

"I do wonder why tell people the new date every few hours instead of giving them the general expectation of a time frame?

Beckfield Lane roadworks

(Image: Provided)

“In essence, things haven’t actually changed much, but it feels delayed – which is obviously frustrating. It’s totally fair to say communication could be clearer and earlier - there were some aspects that are still ambiguous to councillors as well as residents.

“There’s a lot of learnings from phase one that I hope we can apply to phase two of works and certainly to future projects.”

Despite this, he added the project was being delivered in the most suitable way possible to avoid further disruption to residents – adding that suggestions that the works could be completed at night were not viable.

He said: “If they did it at night, it would cost significantly more, and take twice as long as workers would only be able to work after 8pm and until midnight as that’s when national law dictates. It would be much more invasive.”