£1.8m road scheme opens to tackle accident blackspot

The £1.8m roundabout at Barlby has been completed 11 weeks ahead of schedule, and the first vehicles will be driven around the revamped junction at 4pm from today.

The roundabout replaces a staggered cross-roads and campaigners have been calling for many years to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians.

The A19 carries more than 33,000 vehicles daily on the stretch of road and a roundabout at the junction is designed to improve safety for drivers turning right and also decrease speeds on the A19 to aid motorists coming from the A63 in Osgodby and Highfield View in Barlby.

North Yorkshire Council Council’s member for the Barlby division, Coun Brian Marshall, said: “The opening of this roundabout will make life safer and easier for the local population and the entire travelling public and we have campaigned long and hard for it. We are delighted that the roundabout is to be completed so many weeks earlier than expected.

“The people of Barlby and Osgodby and local businesses have had to put up with a great deal of disruption and inconvenience due to the diversion through their villages, but this has meant that the contractors have been able to get on with the job uninterrupted.”

The original programme for the project was 22 weeks – a ten-week full road closure followed by 12 weeks of traffic management. But communities of Barlby, Cliffe and Osgodby agreed to a full ten-week road closure at the A19/A63 junction and a diversion route through the villages meant contractors could get complete the job unhindered.

Meanwhile, York Council will carry out resurfacing works on a major link road from next week as part of a multi-million pound scheme to create two new park and ride sites to tackle congestion in the city.

Work will start on the A59 Boroughbridge Road between Plantation Drive and Seldon Road and on Poppleton Road – also the A59 – between Holgate Park Drive and Acomb Road from Tuesday next week.

The £22.7m Access York Park and Ride project officially started this month following confirmation that the Government will provide £15.3m in funding – about 70 per cent – of the overall costs to create the two new sites at Poppleton Bar and Askham Bar.