A64 Motorway safety

The A64 motorway that encircles the city of York is notoriously dangerous. It is a dual carriageway with a 60 mph speed limit, many short exit entry slips roads and it is used by extremely slow moving agricultural traffic. Despite this a third of the traffic on the road travels at speeds of 80 mph and over. The mix of two lanes and traffic moving at many different speeds is a recipe for disaster. A similar two lane road near Cambridge was put under continual speed camera surveillance and the calming effect on the traffic is amazing (even though it feels like being on prozac).

The exit off the A64 I use is terrible. There are two lanes on the slip road, one to go into York and one to go away. Queues into York form at peak times and the left slip road backs up onto the motorway. Naturally, drivers use the right lane to jump the queue which backs the traffic up even more. I asked North Yorkshire police why they don't enforce the lane discipline more and I got this response;

Many thanks for your enquiry re the roundabouts at Fulfrod

I can understand your frustration at motorists using the free flow lane to shorten their wait but there is no offence in undertaking this manoeuvre however annoying it maybe.

Unfortunately it is not possible to use the stinger under these circumstances.

We are in conversation with the Highways Agency and the City of York Council over the queuing of traffic on the A64 off slip road and they are monitoring the situation at the moment to see what if any action can be taken for a long term solution.

Thank you for your enquiry

regards

Martin hemenway