Balfour Beatty has successfully delivered two new park and ride sites for City of York Council offering to ease congestion and provide better journeys for thousands of people and in time for the Tour de France which will come through the area next month.
The new Askham Bar Park & Ride and Poppleton Park & Ride sites were completed in a contract worth £18 million and included the provision of new terminus buildings, new substations for the supply of electricity to charge buses and junction improvements including the provision of direct turn lanes to help ease congestion for non-bus traffic.
Balfour Beatty began the project in early 2013, with main construction works commencing in April of that year.
Sustainability was key to the projects and the Askham Bar site saw reclaimed heavily compacted landfill used as a sub-base with gas vents installed to allow gases from the rubbish to escape harmlessly.
Over 170 people have been employed on the projects, with local people and subcontractors employed wherever possible, such as York-based Shouksmiths, who provided mechanical and electrical services. Further support for the local community was shown with construction students from York College, which Balfour Beatty built between 2005 and 2007, offered regular visits to the sites providing them with experience to inform their education and career choices.
Eddie Tribe, Managing Director (North East) from Balfour Beatty said; “It is a great pleasure to hand over these fantastic new park and ride sites to City of York Council. Working closely with our customer, these projects were successfully completed in heavily trafficked areas, with Askham Bar having the additional challenge of being constructed on a reclaimed landfill. The new park and ride sites will ease congestion and provide people with improved journeys into York city centre.”
Cllr David Levene, Cabinet Member for Transport for the City of York, said: “This project represents one of the largest single investments in the York’s transport infrastructure since the northern ring road was built in the 80s. This is critical for York’s future economic prosperity and environmental wellbeing and we are delighted to be delivering this major improvement today.”