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05
Dec 2023
Cyclists brand scaled-back Harrogate gateway plans a 'huge disappointment'
Cycling campaigners have described North Yorkshire Council’s scaled-back plans for Harrogate’s station gateway as a “huge disappointment”.
The plans originally envisioned a radical transformation of the town centre’s main thoroughfare, with traffic on Station Parade reduced to one lane to allow for cycle lanes, as well as the part-pedestrianisation of James Street and a cycle-friendly Dutch-style roundabout at the junction of Station Bridge and East Parade.
But a legal challenge by Hornbeam Park Developments put a stop to the scheme, and those elements have now been dropped.
The revised scheme may now only include a redeveloped One Arch and Station Square, better traffic signals, a bus lane on lower Station Parade, new paving for pedestrians and cycling parking at Harrogate railway station.
Several of the scheme's major elements have been scrapped.
In a statement, Harrogate District Cycle Action (HDCA) said:
The Harrogate scheme is one of three in North Yorkshire – the others are in Skipton and Selby – that are being developed with £42 million from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF).
The TCF is a £2.45 billion capital grant fund aimed at driving up productivity through investments in public and sustainable transport infrastructure in England.
HDCA was also critical of some of the elements of the scheme which will remain, such as the coordination of traffic lights, which it said would only benefit motorists.
It said:
The proposal for a Dutch-style roundabout at the junction of Station Bridge and East Parade has been scrapped.
HDCA member Malcolm Margolis, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2019 for services to cycling in Harrogate, said the gutting of the station gateway scheme meant it now fell far short of its original aims.
He said:
The council must now undertake more public consultation, publish updated Traffic Regulation Orders and submit a new business case to West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which won the initial funding. It expects this process to take another five months.
If the business case is approved next summer, work on the scheme could begin by autumn 2024, but that will not leave much time for its construction.
The Department for Transport has previously insisted that all projects must be built before March 2025.
Read more:
- Work hub removed from Harrogate rail station
- Councillors push ahead with scaled-back £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
- Tory transport chief urges Lib Dems to back scaled-back Harrogate Station Gateway
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