Anyone wondering what the roadworks will be like when the schools reopen after a summer of congestion misery may be in for a pleasant surprise.

Roadworks – and their attendant dust, noise, delays, diversions and disruption – have been one of the hallmarks of Harrogate’s summer, driving many residents to despair, and the prospect of adding several thousand school runs into the mix will fill many with horror.

Completed before term starts

But there may be some reprieve, albeit temporary. According to the One Network interactive map that shows all the current and forthcoming roadworks across the UK, many of the current schemes are due to be completed before school pupils return in two weeks’ time (September 1).

Some, such as Northern Powergrid’s ducting scheme on Cold Bath Road and the major remodelling and resurfacing scheme on Victoria Avenue, have already been completed.

Other schemes due for completion before the start of the new academic year include:

• Northern Gas Networks’ schemes around the Fulwith Mill Lane junction with Leeds Road, and in Burn Bridge
• Resurfacing work on West Park
• Northern Powergrid’s temporary traffic lights on Dragon Road and Knaresborough Road
• Resurfacing work on the Harrogate Road just south of Ripon

Postponed

In addition, Yorkshire Water was to have started three months of works at various locations around Harrogate town centre at the end of August, but this was postponed two weeks ago until 2026.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said at the time that the decision had been taken “to avoid any disruption as a result of overlapping with other roadworks and schemes currently taking place in the area”.

Similarly, Northern Powergrid has postponed its 33KV work on Otley Road and York Place, which was due to take place over the summer, and intends to reschedule it to coincide with proposed remedial works at the Prince of Wales roundabout, presumably in the new year.

Roadworks still to come

All that is not to say, though, that we’ve seen the back of the roadworks – there will still be some in place, but fewer of them.

For example, Northern Powergrid’s temporary traffic lights on Leeds Road in Harrogate are scheduled to remain until Friday, September 5 – the end of the first week back at school – and Northern Gas Networks’ temporary lights on Harrogate’s Hookstone Road are due to remain for a week longer than that.

Other continuing works include:

• Yorkshire Water’s temporary traffic lights on York Road in Knaresborough are due to be gone by September 11
• Resurfacing work on Belford Road and Tower Street is due to last until September 12
• Resurfacing work on Park Parade, Regent Parade and Springfield Avenue till October 31
• Changes to the road layout near the new Tesco supermarket on Skipton Road could last into November

Over the longer term, there will of course be more roadworks to come. North Yorkshire Council’s job of repairing potholes and resurfacing the district’s roads seems to be a never-ending task, Northern Powergrid’s £20 million project to upgrade Harrogate’s electricity network has not yet been completed, and neither has Northern Gas Network’s scheme to replace ageing metal pipes with plastic ones. In the new year, Yorkshire Water will also want to resume the work it postponed this month.

The Stray Ferret will continue to track all the planned roadworks in order to give readers advance notice.