Consultation is to begin this summer on two new cycle routes in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
North Yorkshire County Council received £1,011,750 last year from the Department for Transport’s active travel fund to improve cycling and walking infrastructure.
The funding is due to be spent on two schemes in the Harrogate district and one in Whitby.
The Harrogate district schemes are on the A59 Harrogate Road, Knaresborough, between Badger Mount and Maple Close and on Victoria Avenue, between the A61 (West Park) and Station Parade.
The Victoria Avenue cycle path could link with the Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood.
A third Harrogate scheme for Oatlands Drive was scrapped after a negative response, but new proposals to cut congestion in the area are due to be revealed in autumn.
The funding was secured more than a year ago and little discernible progress has been made since then.
The Stray Ferret asked the county council for an update.
Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at the county council, said:
“The two proposed schemes in Harrogate — along the A59 and on Victoria Avenue — are currently in the detailed design stage to understand the cost and funding requirements.
“We are carrying out road safety audits on the routes this month before taking the final designs to a public consultation in the late summer.”
Read more:
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But it seems the Knaresborough scheme will not proceed any time soon.
Although North Yorkshire County Council is leading on the project, the issue was raised last week at a Harrogate Borough Council meeting.
Stray land
Harrogate Borough Council has ringfenced £500,000 towards the Knaresborough scheme from its investment reserve.
When asked about progress on the initiative, Councillor Phil Ireland, the cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, told the meeting “there has been an acceptance that this will not happen prior to local government reorganisation” in April next year.
Cllr Ireland said:
“We definitely want a cycleway between Harrogate and Knaresborough. However, it won’t happen quickly as further funding will need to be identified, plus there’s always the perennial issue of Stray land on the verges of Knaresborough Road.”
He added that the borough council, which will be abolished in April, was considering allocating the funding to other “shovel-ready schemes” from North Yorkshire County Council, such as the Victoria Avenue initiative.
Cllr Ireland said the borough council was “waiting for some more information’ from the county council before making a decision.
The Victoria Avenue scheme could link with the Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood, if the decision to close the road to through traffic is continued.
