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    27

    Sept 2022

    Last Updated: 27/09/2022
    Transport
    Transport

    Are the Beech Grove planters set for a comeback?

    by John Plummer

    | 27 Sept, 2022
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    A highways manager says the planters won't be removed until a decision is made on travel links from Otley Road to the town centre.

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    More than six weeks have passed since Beech Grove in Harrogate reopened to through traffic.

    But the planters that blocked the highway remain by the side of the road — prompting speculation that they might be brought back.

    Beech Grove was closed to through traffic for 18 months from February last year to encourage cycling and walking in the area.

    When the experimental order implementing the measure expired in August, the planters were moved to the side and traffic could once again use the route to travel between Otley Road and West Park.

    A no-through road sign also remains in place, prompting questions about whether measures to restrict traffic on Beech Grove could be brought back.

    Beech Grove is regarded as a key part of wider plans to create a traffic-free route for cyclists between Harrogate train station and Cardale Park on Otley Road.

    Beech Grove sign

    The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, why the planters and sign had not been removed and whether there were any plans to once again prohibit traffic on Beech Grove.

    Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at the council, said the council was still considering what to do. She said:

    “The planters are safely placed at the side of the road but will not be removed until we have considered the potential links from Otley Road to the town centre further.
    "The sign was missed in error and we will remove it as soon as possible.”


    Last month Cllr Keane Duncan, the council's executive member for highways and transport, said it would “bring forward a detailed and coordinated plan, connecting active travel initiatives such as Otley Road and Station Gateway together”.

    How Beech Grove figures in these plans remains to be seen.