'Shameful' delays over York cycle path barrier removal

Dr Jamie Wood uses a trike as a mobility aid

Delays in removing barriers which block disabled cyclists from accessing paths in York are "shameful", campaigners have said.

Dr Jamie Wood, who uses a trike as a mobility aid, began legal action against the city council for breaches of the Equality Act in 2020.

"It's really shameful, frankly, that this is still going on," he said.

The council said many of the barriers were installed to counter safety issues and needed reviewing before removal.

The York Cycle Campaign said it had identified 30 places were barriers were preventing or impairing people's ability to use cycle paths.

"Up and down the country these kinds of outdated barriers are being taken out, literally expanding people's horizons," a spokesperson said.

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Dr Wood, who has multiple sclerosis, said the council had spent 20 years installing infrastructure which did not confirm to equality legislation or disability guidance.

"If you somehow don't fit their model of a fit, healthy 40-year-old man, you can't use their infrastructure.

"It's really frustrating," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Campaigners claim the barriers prevent disabled people and people with adapted bikes from accessing paths

Dr Wood, who is a professor of mathematics, highlighted the barriers on Hob Moor, installed in 2004 to stop motorcyclists scaring cattle, as particularly difficult to get through.

The council's director of transport James Gilchrist said those barriers would be changed in the new year.

Mr Gilchrist said the council was aware that some barriers installed over the years had become an obstacle.

"Many of these were installed to address specific safety concerns at the time and require careful consideration before removal or adaptation," he said.

A £100,000 fund had been set up to review the barriers and a city-wide programme of improvements was planned, he added.