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25
Sept 2022
More delays for Harrogate cycling schemes
There are yet more delays for Harrogate’s active travel schemes, which have yet to produce final designs despite being awarded government cash almost two years ago.
North Yorkshire County Council won £1 million for cycling and walking improvements on Oatlands Drive, Victoria Avenue and the A59 near Knaresborough in November 2020, but final designs have yet to be revealed as part of more consultations.
The council previously said designs for the Victoria Avenue and A59 schemes – which include cycle lanes, improved crossings and reduced speed limits – were “likely” to be revealed this summer.
However, this has now been pushed back until at least the New Year.
Victoria Avenue is one of the routes earmarked for better cycling.
And for the Oatlands Drive plans, the council previously said a consultation was “likely to start soon after” Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend in June.
Three months on, the council says it now hopes to ask the public for their views from the start of October.
This comes after original plans for a one-way traffic system on Oatlands Drive were scrapped after a backlash from residents who warned the changes would be “disastrous”.
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It was later agreed that the funding would instead be used for a feasibility study looking into improvements for the wider area.
Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at the council, said in a statement this week:
The latest delays come on top of several setbacks for Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle path project which was first awarded funding in 2017. A first phase of the project was completed earlier this year, but a start date for phase two remains unclear.
Otley Road cycle path
There have also been setbacks for the town’s £11.2 million Gateway project which has been hit by a legal threat from a leading property company.
Hornbeam Park Developments made a proposed claim for a judicial review against the council this year over claims that it “failed conscientiously” to take into account the feedback of a previous survey.
This sparked the launch of yet another consultation, which was held in summer and gathered over 2,000 responses ahead of a council decision over whether to submit a final business case for funding.
Elsewhere, plans for a 7km cycleway in Knaresborough and other active travel improvements in Ripon were shelved altogether in summer when a council bid for £1.5 million was rejected by government.
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