Council urged to ensure safety on cycle tracks

4:09pm Tuesday 1st July 2008

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COUNCIL chiefs were urged today to take urgent safety action on two York cycle tracks to ensure another cyclist does not die.

A councillor and a member of the public have both contacted City of York Council to raise their concerns in the wake of the accident on the track near York Racecourse in May, in which teenage cyclist Ruby Milnes was killed in a collision with a lorry.

The authority has taken action to improve safety at that location, trimming back a hedge at the track’s junction with a racecourse access road along which the lorry was being driven.

The council is also seeking planning permission to remove a 15- metre stretch of the hedge to improve visibility.

Ruby’s parents welcomed the move last week, but said: “Our terrible tragedy is that our daughter had to be killed before any safety measures were put in place.”

Now Green councillor Andy D’Agorne has claimed there are two other locations on that track where overgrown hedges and a lack of warning signs mean there could be “another accident waiting to happen.”

He said that at the point where the track emerges on to Bishopthorpe Road near the Terry’s site, where many cyclists cross to continue down towards the Millennium Bridge, they emerged concealed by a hawthorn hedge bordering Knavesmire.

“Often traffic can be travelling at nearly 40mph,” he said. “Visibility is very poor towards Bishopthorpe.”

He also had concerns about a high privet hedge further along the cycle track, behind the York College of Law. He said he had reported both locations to the council, but no significant action had been taken as yet.

Meanwhile, reader Roy Murphy has also contacted The Press to say he had reported his safety concerns about a cycle track at Monks Cross, but no action had as yet been taken.

He said he had noticed on arriving at the Monks Cross Park&Ride that motorists turning into the car park had to cross a cycle path, with no signs present to tell either cars or cyclists that they should stop or give way.

“At the moment, should an accident happen, who is at fault? The cyclist or the motor traffic?” he asked. “This situation should never present itself if planners did their job properly. I am very concerned about road safety, and would have thought that this would be dealt with very soon.”

A council spokesman said: “The council always takes the issue of public safety very seriously, particularly where concerns have been brought to our attention by members of the public.

“The particular concerns identified regarding cycleways in the Knavesmire area are being investigated; however these are problematic because ownership of the hedges is in doubt.

“We are seeking to resolve these as soon as possible and will take any necessary action as is appropriate.

“Regarding the Monks Cross Park&Ride cycle way, we have investigated and agree that some priority markings are required. The markings have been ordered from our contractor and we expect them to be placed in July.”