Accessibility statement

Impact of traffic on the community

Posted on 25 January 2022

We have recently received a number of complaints from the local community around the impact of University-related traffic.

Feedback focuses on two main points:

  1. An increase in on-street parking on residential streets in the area around campus, notably the area to the north and west of Green Dykes Lane / Melrosegate and Tranby Avenue / Osbaldwick;
  2. Taking shortcuts through Campus East (between Hull Road and Field Lane) to access Campus West.

As part of our annual programme of traffic and transport surveys (that we are required to undertake by the Council), we will soon be capturing data to corroborate the feedback received.

In the meantime, however, we would like to take the opportunity to remind all staff and students of the University’s commitments as a ‘good neighbour’ and encourage you to give consideration to the route you take and where you park when spending time on campus.

We recognise that in the past it has often been difficult to park on campus.

However, the University has introduced a more flexible parking permit system for staff in the wake of the pandemic, and demand for car parking on campus has reduced as a consequence of an increase in home working. We would therefore suggest that, where you are able to, parking on campus should be the preferred option.

Similarly, we would ask that you only make use of the through route to campus from Hull Road (via Grimston Bar Park and Ride) if your intended destination is Campus East; otherwise, please use the alternative route, via Field Lane. If we exceed our planning restrictions in terms of journeys through Campus East, likewise if the travel survey identifies breaches of our planning consent on travel and parking, more onerous restrictions can be applied by the council.

Finally, we will be undertaking a full staff and student travel questionnaire in March, where you will have the opportunity to provide feedback on travel to / around campus; and how this has been impacted by the pandemic. The results will be used to inform our new Sustainable Transport Strategy and your input is, therefore, extremely valuable to us. 

If you have any queries / comments ahead of the survey, please direct them to transport-team@york.ac.uk.