From Monday 5 October, City of York Council will be improving the pedestrian crossing and lights on Heworth Green, near Dodsworth Avenue and Mill Lane.
This essential work to refurbish the pedestrian crossing is part of our Traffic Signal Asset Renewal (TSAR) programme. We’ll be taking out and replacing the traffic signals and improving the pedestrian crossing equipment to facilitate Puffin crossing red and green man displays on both sides of the road. We expect the works to take four weeks to complete.
We’ll also be widening the island in the middle of the road to make more room for pedestrians; making minor changes to the tactile paving at the crossing; resurfacing some parts of the pavements and making some small improvements to the cycle exit from Mill Lane. A carriageway resurfacing package for the area around the crossing is also proposed, and is subject to formal road closure approval.
Work will start on Monday 5 October 2026, and we expect to finish by Sunday 1 November 2026. The hours of working will be 8.00am to 5.00pm, 7 days a week.
To allow for the works to be undertaken safely, we need to use temporary traffic lights at the junction of Heworth Green and Dodsworth Avenue. The road will remain open under these lights, and we will work to ensure we keep delays to a minimum but if you travel through at peak times please do give a little extra time for your journey.
We will also need to put in place additional temporary restrictions while we carry out the work safely. These are:
- closure of Mill Lane onto Heworth Green for the entire project; a signed diversion route will be in place during the works
- suspension and closure of loading bay outside 50 to 52 Heworth Green
We know that the existing crossing is an important point for many pedestrians and mobility aid users, and a temporary controlled crossing will be provided during construction to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely.
The ground work will be carried out by the council’s in-house contractor with the specialist traffic signals contractor Swarco undertaking the traffic signals works.
It will be necessary to temporarily close pavements in the works area at certain times during the works and pavement diversion routes will be put in place.
Emergency services will always be permitted through the works at all times.
More widely, the Traffic Signal Asset Renewal (TSAR) Programme was approved in November 2015 and sets out a plan to update many junctions across the city. The programme has completed several projects across York so far this year, including on Bishopthorpe Road and Foss Islands Road. The new equipment is cheaper to run and more reliable. It also enables us to programme the lights more effectively, to better manage traffic congestion at peak travel times.
Councillor Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport at City of York Council, said:
Heworth Green is the latest project designed to create safer crossing points and improve accessibility and the use of junctions for all road users.
We know that these projects, alongside many others across a busy city, do cause disruption and we are grateful to everyone for their patience while we get this important work done.
The installation of the new traffic signals on Heworth Green will allow us to programme the lights more effectively, ensuring pedestrians don’t have to wait as long to cross the road.
We are doing all that we can to minimise disruption, sharing this information early and sending letters to local residents and businesses. Local businesses are open throughout the works.
Full details of the planned improvements are available here: https://www.york.gov.uk/HeworthGreenCrossingImprovements
Find out more about upcoming roadworks, sign up for email alerts for roadworks and disruption at: york.gov.uk/roadworks.
You can find guidance about our Planned Highways Works for the year at: york.gov.uk/PlannedHighwaysWorks.
For any enquires regarding these works please send correspondence to email: tsar@york.gov.uk.