These pictures show Gillygate in York taken at 1.18pm yesterday afternoon (31 May).
In what would have been an unthinkable sight a few months ago, there are almost no cars on the road in either direction on a Saturday.
This unusual situation will have been exacerbated by the fact that the inner ring road is currently shut in St Leonard’s Place due to work on a sink hole.
But that doesn’t affect outbound traffic from Bootham.
It comes after City of York Council made changes to traffic light sequencing in Gillygate to tackle air pollution on the street.
It was back in December that a year-long trial to reduce standing traffic in Gillygate, York’s most polluted street, was agreed.
At the time, council transport lead Cllr Kate Ravilious said: “Small changes to traffic signals is one thing we can do to address poor air quality, it should reduce the amount of standing traffic.
“It is likely that queuing will shift to surrounding streets but these don’t have the same canyon-like environment so emissions will disperse.”
Even before the trial, air quality had already improved significantly in 2024.
Pollution levels at monitoring sites across York were all below legal limits for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic last year, according to council data.
Emissions of key pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at the Gillygate and Bootham junction fell by 27 per cent compared to 2023 when it was above the legal limit and had the highest recorded level at 43µg/m3.
And the stretch of Blossom Street near its junction with Queen Street had the highest recorded NO2 emission level at 32µg/m3 in 2024, below the 40µg/m3 limit.
Live data shows that the level of air pollution on Gillygate was low in the last 24 hours.
And in the seven weeks before the St Leonard’s Place road closure, levels of NO2 averaged at 16.5µg/m3. That’s down on the same period last year, which was 17.3µg/m3.
The council report on the 2024 air quality figures stated: “For the first time since the pandemic, all monitored locations meet legal NO2 limits.
“This milestone is a public health and environmental success.
“Good air quality reduces absence from work and education due to air pollution related illnesses.”
It said this reflected the success of work on zero-emissions buses, anti-idling campaigns and other efforts but momentum needed to be maintained.
Additional reporting: Joe Gerrard, LDRS