The A19 south of York shuts 8pm to 6am until 6am Saturday 10 October, and Heworth Green is on temporary lights to 1 November. Every live York closure.

Driving in York runs on a short list of pinch points: the bridges over the Ouse, the radial roads in through Bishopthorpe Road, Acomb and Clifton, and the A1237 outer ring road that everything falls back on. This page covers what is actually closed now and over the next fortnight, the state of the big schemes, and the evergreen answers, park and ride, station parking and the footstreets, that decide how you should come into the city at all.

Checked against the council’s own closure register and works notices, National Highways’ seven-day closure report and National Rail’s engineering notices on Sunday 4 October 2026.

Closed or restricted right now

Everything below is taken from the council’s temporary road closures register and its own works notices.

A19 south of York: the last five nights, ending 6am Saturday

The A19 is shut in both directions between the Designer Outlet roundabout and Skipwith Road in Escrick, about six miles south of the city. The programme started on Monday 28 September and the order on the register runs to 6.00am on Saturday 10 October. That leaves the nights of Monday 5 to Friday 9 October.

  • Times: 8.00pm to 6.00am, week nights only. The road reopens at 6.00am each morning “unless there are exceptional circumstances”.
  • Weekends: the A19 is open on Saturday and Sunday nights.
  • The roundabout stays open for travel north, east and west. Only the leg south towards Escrick is shut.
  • The work: resurfacing and patching under the council’s Highways Maintenance programme, carried out by Lane Rentals Services.

The signed diversion is long, because it has to carry the lorries the A19 normally takes. It runs A64 Tadcaster Road from the Designer Outlet roundabout, A162 through Towton and the Sherburn in Elmet bypass, A63 past Selby, rejoining the A19 at Barlby and north to Escrick, and the same in reverse (City of York Council, 21 September 2026).

Two things make it easier than it looks:

  • Buses are not diverted. The 42 and 415 between York and Selby are let through the closure, and buses serve the Designer Outlet as usual.
  • Designer Outlet traffic can still get out north into York or east and west on the A64.

There is no suitable cycle diversion. The council points cyclists at the B1222 Naburn Lane and the off-road Solar Way between York and Selby.

Heworth Green: Mill Lane closed, temporary lights until 1 November

This is the new one, and it is on a main route in from the north-east. From Monday 5 October the council is replacing the traffic signals and the pedestrian crossing on Heworth Green, near Dodsworth Avenue and Mill Lane. It expects to finish by Sunday 1 November (City of York Council, 29 September 2026).

  • Heworth Green stays open, under temporary traffic lights at the Dodsworth Avenue junction. The council says to allow extra time at peak hours.
  • Mill Lane is closed where it meets Heworth Green for the whole project, with a signed diversion. The register carries the order for Mill Lane, Heworth from 5 October to 4.00pm on Friday 30 October.
  • Working hours are 8.00am to 5.00pm, seven days a week.
  • The loading bay outside 50 to 52 Heworth Green is suspended.
  • Pedestrians get a temporary controlled crossing. Some pavements will close at times, with signed diversions.

When it is done the crossing becomes a Puffin crossing with red and green man displays on both sides, the centre island is widened, and the cycle exit from Mill Lane is improved. The council also says a carriageway resurfacing package around the crossing is proposed, subject to a separate road closure approval, so expect a further notice (scheme page).

Front Street, Acomb: water mains, Monday to Friday

Front Street, Acomb closes for water mains work from 8.00am on Monday 5 October to 5.00pm on Friday 9 October. Landing Lane’s water mains order also runs out at 5.00pm on Monday 5 October.

Back Swinegate and Little Stonegate: resurfacing until 25 October

Both are closed for highway resurfacing until 5.00pm on Sunday 25 October. It is still the longest city centre works order on the register.

The A1237, Kings Square and Colliergate have all reopened

  • A1237 Wigginton Road to Strensall Road: the night closures ended at 6.00am on Saturday 26 September, and the two follow-up nights on Haxby Road ended at 6.00am on Thursday 1 October. Neither is on the register any more.
  • Kings Square sewer work ended on Saturday 3 October.
  • Colliergate water mains work ended on Thursday 1 October.
  • The Claremont Terrace back lane wall repair order ended on Friday 2 October.

Coming up in the next fortnight

From the council’s register, in date order. Single-day and short closures are easy to miss, so these are the ones to check against your route.

Dates Road Why
Tue 6 Oct, 8.30am to Wed 7 Oct, 4.30pm Chapel Lane, Askham Bryan Telecoms
Wed 7 Oct, 9.30am to Thu 8 Oct, 3.30pm Hawthorne Avenue, Haxby Telecoms
Sat 10 Oct, 11.20pm to Mon 12 Oct, 5.55am Haxby Road level crossing, Haxby Railway maintenance
Mon 12 to Wed 14 Oct Glebe Avenue, Acomb Water mains
Mon 12 to Fri 16 Oct Balmoral Terrace Gas mains
Mon 12 to Fri 16 Oct Grange Garth, Fishergate Telecoms
Mon 12 to Mon 19 Oct Link Avenue, Clifton Telecoms
Mon 12 to Wed 21 Oct Riverside Walk, Strensall Telecoms
Wed 14 Oct, 7pm to Thu 15 Oct, 6am Low Petergate Water mains
Wed 14 Oct, 7pm to Fri 16 Oct, 6am Pottery Lane, Strensall Telecoms

The council’s register says a notice covering several days does not always mean the road is shut the whole time. Its One.Network map shows when each one is actually closed.

The Yorkshire Marathon is on Sunday 18 October. The full closure list, with Hull Road shut from 09:30 to 17:30, is on our marathon road closures page.

The A64: nothing inside York this week

National Highways’ closure report for Friday 2 to Thursday 8 October lists no closures on the A64 around York, at Grimston Bar, Hopgrove or Askham Bar (National Highways, seven-day closure report).

If you are heading for the coast, it lists the A64 westbound between Musley and Pickering, and the Pickering westbound entry slip, closed 8pm to 6am on the night of Monday 5 October for barrier repairs. The A64 is also shut both ways between Seamer and Eastfield, near Scarborough, the same night.

Trains: two engineering closures to know about

National Rail’s engineering notices list two York closures in the next fortnight.

  • Late LNER trains, Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 October. All lines between Doncaster and York close overnight. On Monday and Tuesday nights the 23:08 King’s Cross to York terminates at Doncaster, with a bus on to York. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings the 04:40 and 06:10 York to King’s Cross start from Doncaster; the notice says to take the 05:57 instead (National Rail).
  • Leeds line, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October. All lines close between Leeds and Church Fenton or Selby. Northern’s York to Leeds stopping trains do not run and buses replace them. CrossCountry trains skip Leeds and Wakefield Westgate, and tickets between York and Leeds are valid on TransPennine Express (National Rail).

The station itself, its long-stay car park and the London timetable are on our York to London trains page.

Station Gateway: the cycle lanes are open, with one gap

The new cycle lanes and pavements outside the station opened on Monday 28 September (City of York Council, 25 September 2026). All the cycle routes on the city walls side are fully open.

One short stretch on the station side is not. Until an existing substation is moved, cyclists going from Blossom Street to Station Rise have to rejoin the road between the York RI building and the station portico. Riders heading for the station can reach some of the cycle parking near platform 2 and Lowther Terrace without going back onto Station Road. No date has been published for the substation move.

Two long orders stay on the register: the South Train Shed access road is closed for Station Gateway works until 26 March 2028, and Tea Room Square until 1 September 2027. The station long-stay car park has been shut since March 2025 while Network Rail builds a multi-storey in its place; blue badge parking stays in the short-stay car park (Network Rail).

Still running

Road Reason Closed until
Footpath, Water End to Garnet Street and Bismarck Street Water mains 22 October, 6pm
Monkgate Yard Water mains 22 October, 5pm
Back Swinegate and Little Stonegate Resurfacing 25 October, 5pm
Mill Lane, Heworth Traffic signal renewal 30 October, 4pm
Piccadilly Building development 31 October, 5pm
Monks Cross Link (two orders) Housing development 6 and 27 November
North Lane, Huntington Housing development 27 November
Back Lane, Dennis Street Development 21 January 2027, 4pm
Leeman Road (two orders) York Central and the National Railway Museum 20 August 2027 and 11 November 2027
National Cycle Network Route 65, Clifton Ings Flood defence 10 January 2027
Mill Street Building development 1 March 2027, 5pm
Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe Housing development 26 March 2027

Twelve city centre streets close 11.00am to 12.40pm on Saturday 14 November for royal salutes. Most are footstreets anyway; Lendal, Museum Street and Duncombe Place are not, so the Lendal Bridge approach is the one to avoid late that morning.

Several footpaths are shut long term: rights of way at Skelton, Osbaldwick and North Street Gardens to Ouse Bridge to February 2028, New Earswick to 29 January 2027 after a landslip, Strensall and Murton to 31 December 2027, and a right of way at Kexby with an unsafe bridge to 3 November 2026.

The big schemes

The A1237 outer ring road now has a four-phase delivery plan. The council published it on Friday 2 October (City of York Council). Only the first phase, the A19 to Wigginton Road including a larger Clifton Moor roundabout, is funded. Before that, a permanent noise barrier goes up at Rawcliffe, targeted for early 2027. The rest still needs money. Our outer ring road story has the phases, the costs and the contract signed last week.

Lendal Bridge repairs are postponed to 2027. The council says the works, including new waterproofing, need a full road closure and cannot overlap with Station Gateway. The bridge stays open, with enhanced inspections, and no new date is set (City of York Council).

The A64 Hopgrove dualling is shelved. National Highways’ scheme to dual the A64 from Hopgrove towards Barton-le-Willows was left out of the Government’s five-year Road Investment Strategy in March 2026, with the agency concluding its options were “high in cost and assessed as having low value for money” (This is the Coast, 26 March 2026).

Park and ride: usually the right answer

York’s answer to its own traffic is one of the biggest park and ride networks in the country: six sites ring the city, all run by First Bus York for the council (iTravel York).

York park and ride: six sites, £4 standard return YORK Rawcliffe Barbus 2A, A19 north Monks Crossbus 9, A1237/Malton Rd Poppleton Barbus 59, A59 Grimston Bar, bus 8, A1079 Askham Barbus 3, A1036 Tadcaster Rd Designer Outlet, bus 7, A19/A64 south
The six sites sit on the main approaches. All are served Monday to Saturday from about 05:30, Sundays from 07:30, last bus back about 22:30. Source: iTravel York.

The sites and their buses: Askham Bar (Service 3) on Tadcaster Road, Designer Outlet (7) by the A64 to the south, Grimston Bar (8) on the A1079, Monks Cross (9) to the north-east, Poppleton Bar (59) on the A59 and Rawcliffe Bar (2A) on the A19 north. First buses leave each site at about 05:30 Monday to Saturday (07:30 Sundays) and the last bus back from the city centre goes at about 22:30; there is no service on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day (iTravel York).

Fares are the strongest argument (iTravel York fares): a standard return is £4.00, a child return £2.00, and up to three children aged 16 or under travel free with an adult. Concessionary pass holders pay £1.40 return (after 9am on weekdays, any time at weekends). Regulars can cut it further with a £18 five-day carnet, £16 weekly, £64 monthly or £640 annual smart ticket. Compare that with a day’s city-centre parking and the sums rarely favour driving in.

Driving into the centre: know the footstreets

Even with the roadworks clear, the historic core is not driveable in the daytime. York’s footstreets scheme closes the main shopping streets, from Blake Street and Davygate through Coney Street, Parliament Street and Goodramgate, to vehicles between 10.30am and 5.00pm, seven days a week, and Shambles and Stonegate are closed to general traffic at all times (City of York Council). Blue Badge holders can have the barriers opened at Goodramgate and Blake Street during those hours, and Castlegate also carries a Blue Badge exemption.

If you are heading for the station rather than the shops, our York to London trains page covers the services, fares and the station’s current lift notice.

What it means for you

  • Driving south on the A19 this week: the road is shut between the Designer Outlet roundabout and Skipwith Road in Escrick, 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday night, until 6am on Saturday 10 October. Travel before 8pm, or take the 42 or 415 bus, which are let straight through.
  • Heworth, Monk Stray and Malton Road: expect temporary lights at Heworth Green and Dodsworth Avenue every day, 8am to 5pm, until 1 November. You cannot turn out of Mill Lane onto Heworth Green; follow the signed diversion.
  • Acomb: Front Street is shut for water mains work Monday to Friday this week, and Glebe Avenue from 12 to 14 October.
  • The northern ring road: nothing to plan around now. The A1237 and Haxby Road night closures have ended. The Haxby Road level crossing in Haxby closes from Saturday night 10 October to early Monday 12 October.
  • The city centre: Back Swinegate and Little Stonegate stay dug up until 25 October, and Low Petergate shuts overnight on 14 October.
  • Cycling past the station: the new lanes are open, but you rejoin the road between the York RI building and the portico heading for Station Rise.
  • Late trains from London, 12 to 14 October: the 23:08 from King’s Cross ends at Doncaster and a bus brings you to York. Allow for it.
  • Leeds on 17 and 18 October: the stopping trains are replaced by buses. Use TransPennine Express, which accepts tickets between York and Leeds.
  • Marathon Sunday, 18 October: check our closure list before you drive anywhere east of the centre.
  • Visiting: park and ride is £4 return from six sites and beats the footstreets problem entirely. What to do once you are in is covered on our things to do in York page, prices checked.

Closures change at short notice. The council’s roadworks page and temporary closures list are the live sources to check before you set off.

Sources

Dates checked against the council’s temporary road closures register and works notices, National Highways’ seven-day closure report for 2 to 8 October 2026 and National Rail’s engineering notices on 4 October 2026. Closures move; check the linked live pages before travelling.