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24
Oct
Council reveals £3.8 million cost breakdown for Beckwithshaw roundabout expansion
North Yorkshire Council has revealed the cost breakdown for a £3.8 million expansion of a roundabout in Beckwithshaw.
The council applied to build the new roundabout at Pot Bank, where Otley Road meets the edge of Moor Park estate.
It tabled the proposal in October 2025 to cope with increased traffic caused by new housing developments in the west of Harrogate.
Last week, the council’s strategic planning committee voted unanimously to approve the proposal at a meeting in Northallerton.
However, the move led to some readers to question why the proposal to expand the roundabout cost so much.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if it could provide a breakdown for the cost of the roundabout.
Figures provided by the council show that the largest cost is construction, while design fees, overheads and supervision are also factored into the overall figure.
You can see an estimated breakdown of the cost below:
- Estimated main construction cost - £1,651m
- Design Fees - £152,000
- Supervision - £152,000
- Overheads - £253,000
- Commuted Sums - £141,000
- Optimism Bias - £755,000
- Inflation Risk beyond indexation - £201,000
The council said it was also reviewing a utility risk cost to factor into the breakdown.
The project is expected to form one of 24 junction upgrades, which will be paid for through developer contributions at three major housing sites in the west of Harrogate.
The Empress roundabout and Buttersyke Bar roundabout are among the improvement schemes due to be funded by developers to help local roads cope with increased traffic.
The work is expected to be carried out over the next 10 to 15 years and cost £37 million in total.
A North Yorkshire Council spokesperson said, while the work is expected to take place over the next 10 to 15 years, it was not possible to give a definitive start or completion date.
They said:
The improvements to the roads network in the west of Harrogate to cater for proposed housing developments is expected to take place over a long-term programme of 10 to 15 years or possibly more.
Progress would depend on a range of factors including economic conditions and the pace of housebuilding nationally and therefore it is not possible to provide definitive start or completion dates at this stage.
You can read the full list of planned improvements here.
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