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28
Jun 2021
Last Updated: 28/06/2021
£827,100 contract to start work on Otley Road cycle path in September
A total of £3.2 million was set aside three years ago to build the route but the plans have been beset by delays that have left cyclists frustrated.
Cyclist on Otley Road. Photo: Hedgehog Cycling
An £827,100 contract is set to be awarded to undertake work on the first phase of the delayed Otley Road cycle route in Harrogate.
North Yorkshire County Council is advertising the contract, known as the West Harrogate Scheme, with the start date given as September 6.
A total of £3.2 million was set aside to build the route in 2018 but the plans have been beset by delays that have frustrated Harrogate’s cycling community.
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Tenders for the contract are due to be submitted by July 16.
Work will include widening Otley Road on the approach to Harlow Moor Road as well as the creation of a designated left turn lane on the western approach to Harlow Moor Road and designated right turn lane on the eastern approach.
An off-road cycle route would also be created between Harlow Moor Road and Cold Bath Road as part of the contract.
Traffic light junctions would also be upgraded.
The county council confirmed that the final two phases of the scheme would also be awarded via open tender.
The second phase of the cycle route will link Arthurs Avenue to Beech Grove and the third will connect Cardale Park to Harlow Hill.
Negotiations with the Duchy of Lancaster over the exchange of Stray land have caused delays.
Harrogate Borough Council agreed in March to designate a plot of land on Wetherby Road as Stray land in exchange for the loss of grass verges on Otley Road for the new cycle path.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told the Stray Ferret a fortnight ago that the authority expected work on the first phase to be completed “within a few months”.
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