Bus gate trial could start in New Year - council

A bus gate could be in place in York by January, a city council has said.

The bus gate would mean parts of Rougier Street, George Hudson Street and Micklegate would only be open to buses, emergency vehicles and taxis between 7am and 11pm.

Senior city councillors are expected to approve the £2.3m trial - which would run for 18 months from the New Year - when they meet early next month.

Labour councillor Kate Ravilious, who is in charge of transport policy, said: "It's an experimental scheme for 18 months. We can adjust things as we go along."

She added: "We wanted to start by minimising the amount of traffic as much as possible, to achieve the greatest benefit for buses, for people walking or cycling, and the businesses along the corridor."

It follows a city-wide consultation which attracted more than 2,000 responses.

One change made to the original "Rougier Route" plan, after the consultation was to introduce an exemption for disabled blue badge holders.

Another was to use two extra Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to stop nearby streets being used by "rat-runners" looking to avoid the bus gate, while protecting residents' access.

Ravilious said: "At this stage we have proposed allowing hackney carriages through, so blue badge holders who use taxis still have an option, but we have said not private hires at this stage.

"We have about twice as many private hires registered as we do hackneys, and private hires can come from outside the city, so that adds significantly to the number of vehicles in the corridor."

Ravilious said January was chosen to start the trial as it is one of York's quietest times, avoiding the Christmas markets when the city's roads are busier.

Drivers making a mistake and entering the bus gate area would get a warning letter, and not a fine, for the first six months of the trial.

"It means everyone has time to get used to it, we can start gathering the data, and bus operators can see what improvements they can bring to their services.

"It's just generally a better time for the scheme to bed in," Ravilious added.

Stephen Fenton, transport spokesman for the council's Liberal Democrat opposition, said his group would be "carefully studying," the latest plans.

"We want to see if our concerns have been addressed," Fenton said.

A key opposition concern was the risk of traffic being diverted onto other routes, such as Lendal Bridge and Skeldergate Bridge, which would make buses using those routes "less reliable" and undermine the overall purpose of the scheme.

Fenton added: "Liberal Democrats believe that the best way to reduce city centre through traffic, improve bus reliability and create more space for cycling and walking, is to dual the outer ring road.

"We will continue to hold the Labour council and Labour government to account for delivering this scheme which has stalled under their watch."

In July 2025, the council voted to adopt a "phased approach" to improvements to York's Outer Ring Road, after a review found a funding shortfall of more than £110m.

That decision saw the scope of the project's first phase switched from building more dual carriageway to a focus on improving roundabouts and making it easier for people to walk or cycle.

At that time, Ravilious said improving the outer ring road remained a "high priority" for the city council.

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