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23
Nov 2023
New proposals revealed for scaled-back Harrogate Station Gateway
Plans to improve Harrogate’s town centre may still go ahead in much reduced form, but the costs will not go down, and may yet rise, according to documents published today
The document, published ahead of a council meeting on Tuesday, also gives further details of the proposed £11.2 million Station Gateway.
The original proposals entailed the part-pedestrianisation of James Street and the reduction of a 300-metre stretch of Station Parade to a single lane to make space for cycle lanes.
But North Yorkshire Council halted the scheme in August following a legal challenge by Hornbeam Park Developments. The council admitted it made an error by not following the correct procedure.
At a meeting on Tuesday next week (November 28), councillors are now set to discuss revised proposals that do not include major alterations to the road layout – the elements that gave rise to the most controversy.
But despite the more modest scope of the plans, the Supplementary Agenda document published ahead of the meeting states:
It adds:
The plans to be discussed are believed to focus on those elements of the scheme that gathered the most public support.
One Arch
These include public realm improvements to Station Square and One Arch (the foot tunnel under the railway at the bottom end of Station Parade), improved access into the bus station and linked sequencing of the traffic lights between the Ripon Road/King’s Road and the Station Parade/Victoria Avenue junctions.
The possibility of a southbound segregated cycle lane on Station Parade, while retaining two lanes for motorised traffic, is also being explored. Wider cycling infrastructure improvements would be delivered under further stages of investment.
The Harrogate Station Gateway scheme is one of three schemes worth £42 million being funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund to improve station gateways to town centres in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:
Further detailed work on the Harrogate scheme will be required prior to public consultation next year.
Read more:
- Tory transport chief urges Lib Dems to back scaled-back Harrogate Station Gateway
- Lib Dem leader accuses Tories of 'pinching' Harrogate Station Gateway ideas
- Harrogate BID says amended Station Gateway scheme 'should proceed'
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