Beckfield Lane Closure: 8am to 5pm, Not Round the Clock

Beckfield Lane in Acomb closes for resurfacing from Monday 17 August, but not in the way most people will have read it. City of York Council published the detail on 12 August: the road is shut 8am to 5pm on weekdays only, and reopens every evening, every weekend, and on the August bank holiday Monday.

Over a kilometre of the road is being resurfaced, from Wetherby Road to the Lidgett Grove junction. It follows recent work on the same street to resurface footpaths, improve tactile crossings and drainage, and install new bus shelters.

The two phases

The work is split so that half the road stays open at any time, and access to Ostman Road is kept open throughout on temporary traffic lights.

Phase 1, Monday 17 August to the end of Monday 24 August, covers Wetherby Road to Ostman Road. Ostman Road is reached from the Boroughbridge Road end of Beckfield Lane.

Phase 2, Tuesday 25 August to 5pm on Friday 4 September, covers Ostman Road to the Lidgett Grove junction. Ostman Road is reached from the Wetherby Road end instead.

The council’s temporary road closures list runs the order to 6 September, which is the legal window rather than the expected finish date.

Buses: normal until 9.30am, then diverted

This is the part worth knowing before Monday. Services run as usual until 9.30am, then divert until the road reopens at 5pm.

In phase 1, the 5A diverts via Ostman Road, Danebury Drive and Wetherby Road to Ridgeway, missing Turnberry Drive, Beckfield Place and Runswick Avenue. The 5 keeps to its normal route. The council suggests using the Ostman Road, Acomb Green or Ridgeway stops.

In phase 2, the 5 diverts via Carr Lane, Almsford Road, Woodlea Avenue and Danebury Drive to The Green, and the 5A follows the same route before rejoining Ostman Road for the southern end of Beckfield Lane. The stops on Boroughbridge Road between Carr Lane and Beckfield Lane (Ouse Acres and Cranbrook Avenue, Plantation Drive, Wheatlands Grove, Low Poppleton Lane) are not served by the 5 or 5A but are served by the number 10. Stops on the closed section, plus Ostman Road Shops and Carr Infant School, are not served at all. The council suggests Boroughbridge Road (Malvern Avenue) or any Ostman Road stop.

One easy mistake to avoid: anyone boarding the diverted 5A on Ostman Road in phase 2 should stand at the stop on the opposite side of the road to their usual direction of travel.

Driving, cycling and walking

Cars have no way through between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. The signed diversion is the A59 Boroughbridge Road, Carr Lane and B1224 Wetherby Road, and the same route covers cyclists in both phases.

Footways stay open throughout, with crossing points in place, and access to homes and businesses is maintained. Emergency vehicles are let through at all times, and the council says carers and residents travelling to medical appointments will be allowed through the closure. Businesses that need deliveries during closure hours should email highway.maintenance@york.gov.uk, with as much notice as possible.

What it means for you

• Bins are the trap. Collections happen as normal, but you need to put them out after 7pm the night before and before 7am on collection day.
• Plan the school run and the morning commute, not the evening one. The road is open from 5pm every weekday and all weekend, so evening trips are unaffected.
• Bank holiday Monday, 31 August, the road is open, which matters if you are travelling out towards the A1237.
• Check before you set off if the dates slip. The council’s roadworks page is the live source, and our York roadworks and travel page tracks the city’s other closures, including the Leeman Road works running into 2027.

The contractor is Lane Rentals Services, working for the council. Councillor Kate Ravilious, the executive member for transport, said the council is “responsible for over 500 miles of roads across the city” and that businesses on Beckfield Lane “are very much open for business” during the work.