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21
Feb 2023
Council bids for £3m for cycling projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough
North Yorkshire County Council is set to bid for £3.19 million from the government to help fund two cycling schemes in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at the council, confirmed that the authority had approved a submission for the funding from tranche four of the Department for Transport’s active travel fund.
The county council has been allocated £1.08 million of funding, although it has been invited to bid for an additional £2.16 million.
It will see the funding go towards improvements to public spaces, pedestrian crossings and segregated cycleways on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate.
Segregated cycling lanes would be created on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate.
This would use the full £1.08 million of the tranche four funding already awarded and would require a further £492,000 from the remaining tranche two funds. The Victoria Avenue project is described by the council as its 'priority scheme'.
A further scheme would see segregated cycle lanes created in Knaresborough at a cost of £1.65 million. They would be created on the A59 Forest Lane Head/Harrogate Road starting around Maple Close toward Knaresborough, ending close to Knaresborough High Bridge.
The council has said this would "deliver improved crossing facilities to link existing cycle routes, Knaresborough town centre and the railway station".
Today's announcement appears to amount to the council reviving previously announced plans to improve cycling on Victoria Avenue and the A59 at Knaresborough — if it can secure funding.
The council has also earmarked a scheme in Richmond as part of the bid.
Cllr Duncan said:
Read more:
- Confirmed: second phase of Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route scrapped
- Harrogate’s Otley Road to be dug up again
The move comes after the county council scrapped plans for the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route this month.
The council, which is the highways authority, also revealed it would not be bringing back restrictions for motorists on nearby Beech Grove.
Instead it will propose new measures to tackle speed in the streets surrounding Otley Road, improved crossings for cyclists, better signage for cycle routes and improvements to bus infrastructure.
A decision on bids submitted for the active travel fund is expected from the government on March 17.
Construction must begin on successful projects before March 31, 2024.
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