Delays for York drivers in Monks Cross area amid work

Traffic is building on Malton Road, the A64 and the York Outer Ring Road, on all sides of the Hopgrove Roundabout, on Saturday afternoon (September 12).

The routes are facing further strain due to a closure of the northbound lane of the nearby Monks Cross Link for works associated with the building of around 970 homes, as part of the Monks Cross Garden Village development.

It comes as thousands of football fans prepare to travel to the LNER Community Stadium, next to the disruption, where York City face Swindon Town at 3pm on Saturday.

An eyewitness urged people to avoid the area, saying: “Absolute carnage on and around A64 and Monks Cross.”

The closure of the Monks Cross Link also caused heavy traffic in the area last weekend, with one eyewitness describing the scene as “absolute chaos” for drivers.

Developer Redrow said the northbound lane closure of the Monks Cross Link will be in place until November 6 for works associated with Monks Cross Garden Village.

A Redrow Yorkshire spokesperson said it understood that the roadworks “are causing some disruption and inconvenience for local residents and businesses”, adding: “We’ve written to local people with more information about the works, which are expected to continue until early November.

“We’re working closely with City of York Council and our contractors to keep disruption to a minimum, and additional traffic management measures are being introduced to help improve traffic flow.

“Monks Cross Garden Village will be delivered in phases over the next decade, with new infrastructure, green spaces and community facilities provided alongside new homes to create a well-connected new neighbourhood.”

They said the development will “transform the local area over the next 10 years, forming a key part of the wider Monks Cross area’s long-term growth”.

Plans also include a new primary school, sports pitches, shop and a country park.

City of York Council said it has permitted the closure in Monks Cross Link until November 6 “to enable the work on one roundabout (northern access to the site) and other utility works associated with the site”.

A council spokesperson said further closures are “highly likely afterwards and into 2027/28 as the developers need to form another new roundabout” for southern access to the site, and carry out other utility and highways work.

“The Network Monitoring team have been actively managing the network by optimising traffic signal times in the area to suit the changing travel demands since Monday morning (September 7) and will continue to do this throughout the road works period,” they said.

“This is of course limited to the team’s working hours.”

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Meanwhile, temporary traffic lights have been installed in nearby New Lane, off Malton Road, over the weekend as Yorkshire Water works to fix a burst main.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said its contractor, M Group, is “working as quickly as possible to repair a burst water main and return the highway to normal”.

But they said the work has been “exacerbated by an existing lane closure on Monks Drive, north of LNER Community Stadium, which is currently diverting traffic onto New Lane”.

The company spokesperson said anyone travelling by road to the York City and Swindon Town match should “allow extra travel time for delays”.

“The manned two-way lights will remain in place over the weekend to keep everyone safe,” they said.

“We appreciate that this will be disruptive and would like to thank everyone for their patience as we undertake this work as quickly and as safely as possible.”