{"id":437615,"date":"2026-02-21T08:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437615\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:49:47","slug":"hundreds-hit-out-at-york-hospital-traffic-congestion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437615\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds hit out at York Hospital traffic congestion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n More than 1,250 people have so far backed the ‘Reduce hospital traffic in Wigginton Road’ petition on Change.org<\/a>, started by the Labour councillors for York’s Guildhall ward, Dave Merrett, Rachel Melly and Tony Clarke.\n<\/p>\n

\n More than 800 Press readers have also shared their experiences and solutions for easing the traffic chaos on The Press website, social media pages and our Letters page.\n<\/p>\n

\n Among them are residents, hospital patients, and bus drivers.\n<\/p>\n

\n Hundreds hit out at hospital congestion and suggest how to fix it. (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n

\n City of York Council’s director of city development Garry Taylor said the local authority was working with York Hospital to promote alternatives to driving among NHS staff while there is an ongoing broader plan to address transport issues across the city.\n<\/p>\n

\n Many readers focused on the longstanding issue of parking capacity at the hospital.\n<\/p>\n

\n Nora Bradshaw said: \u201cWhat about a few multi-storey car parks?\u201d while Joan Helen Tunnicliffe called for both road improvements and an expanded car park, saying: \u201cIt needs the road widening to allow cars not going to the hospital to move freely up the road. Then the car park at the hospital needs to be made bigger – another two floors would not go wrong.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Others suggested relocating parking to ease pressure. Timm Hield said: \u201cMoving some outpatient clinics off-site will help. Not every patient needs blood tests\/x-rays same day.” Jon Moulam added: \u201cOne solution is to move half the staff parking down the road to free up parking for those attending the hospital.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Recommended reads:<\/p>\n

\n Several argued for dedicated park\u2011and\u2011ride links. Jan Drinkall said: \u201cDoncaster Hospital has a free park and ride service from the racecourse car park\u2026 Surely York could have a similar option from the nearest park and ride facility.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Jenny Mills said: \u201cFor patients who do not live in York why not have Park and Ride bus services just for the hospital?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Amy O’Connor added: \u201cPark and Ride needs a hospital bus. I don’t know how many times I’ve met people on the two park and ride – elderly people visiting sick and dying loved ones. They have to walk over from Bootham.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Others suggested making better use of nearby land. Craig Robinson wrote: \u201cAll along the road from the hospital towards Clifton Moor are fields that have never been farmed for years. Turn them into a park and ride car park.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Julie Ann added: \u201cPut the car park on old Bootham hospital grounds maybe.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Some called for reinstating public transport options that once served the site more directly. Claire Chambers wrote: \u201cBring back the hopper buses and run one from each of the existing park & ride sites to hospital.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Meanwhile, Felix Zinc suggested a route change: \u201cOpen up the road through Nestle.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n A number of people described how congestion is affecting their health and care. Greta Spaven said: \u201cIt is a nightmare getting to the hospital to park. I\u2019m a chemo patient and it just adds to the stress.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Jane Walker, also undergoing treatment, added: \u201cMy chemo is always mid afternoon and the traffic is horrendous.”\n<\/p>\n

\n A similar experience was shared by Tasha Wild, who wrote: \u201cGot stuck in all the traffic when in labour. Baby arrived not long after we got to the hospital. Wasn\u2019t a pleasant experience.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Some pointed to wider city transport policies. Martin Read said: \u201cThe parking problem at the hospital has much worsened since the enormous increase in parking charges in the city centre.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Others offered road\u2011layout proposals. Barbara M Matthewman said the hospital was poorly located and suggested traffic light changes, new access points, and additional staff parking.\n<\/p>\n

\n Some believed the answer lies in behaviour change. Marie Dowling wrote: \u201cIf more people could find a way to avoid using their cars\u2026 there\u2019d be far less congestion.\u201d However, others highlighted the vulnerability of patients undergoing treatment, while others stressed the challenges for those travelling from out of town.\n<\/p>\n

\n Several people proposed larger\u2011scale solutions. Jonny Greenwood wrote: \u201cShould build a new hospital out of town…\u201d while Di suggested: \u201cJust need to reverse the one way system around the back of the hospital.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Bus driver Mark Harmer\u2011Ebdon described the situation as \u201ccarnage\u201d, adding: \u201cIt needs the multi story making level and access for disabled and to create an out of town park and ride system for the hospital only!!\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n And bikesquicker argued the hospital could reduce pressure by adjusting its own operations: \u201cThe issue is peaks in demand like visiting time, patient transport, clinics\u2026 There would be loads of parking space off site at park and ride if restarted bus for staff\u2026 freeing up patient and visitor spaces.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Join the debate<\/p>\n

\n Make your views known by sending a letter to our Letters page at letters@thepress.co.uk Write no more than 250 words and include your name, address and a contact phone number.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1,250 people have so far backed the ‘Reduce hospital traffic in Wigginton Road’ petition on Change.org,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-437615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}