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17
Nov
Consultants paid £50,000 to study Harrogate traffic flow
North Yorkshire Council is to pay consultants to undertake a study into journey times along the A61 through Harrogate town centre.
The authority said the study would look into options to improve traffic flow for all vehicles at junctions such as Station Parade/York Place, Kings Road/Ripon Road/Parliament Street and Kings Road/Cheltenham Crescent.
Consultancy firm WSP has been commissioned to carry out the work, which is expected to be complete in the new year, on a budget of £50,000.
Council officials said the study will consider junctions with signals through Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation (MOVA), which is a traffic signal control system that uses microprocessors to adjust green light timings based on real-time traffic flow.
According to a report due before senior councillors next week, the council said the move would help to “improve the efficiency of flows of pedestrians, cyclists and general traffic through these junctions”.
It added:
This has the potential to improve vehicular journey times and deliver positive impacts on active mode users.
The Stray Ferret asked the council why it had chosen to do this now and not as part of the £14.6 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.
A spokesperson for the council said:
Whilst not part of the gateway project, it has always been the council’s intention to consider introducing junctions with signals through MOVA technology by the gateway contractor while they are on site for the project.
The study is being funded by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
David Skaith, Labour mayor of York and North Yorkshire and chair of the combined authority, approved £500,000 in funding to the council in October last year, which was designed to help upgrade traffic lights in Harrogate.
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