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09
Mar
Cyclists respond to plans for new schemes as Otley Road is back on agenda
A group that campaigns for a better cycling network in the Harrogate district has cautiously welcomed plans to spend £2.88 million on three new schemes.
North Yorkshire Council has received £13.79 million from the Department for Transport’s local transport grant to fund transport improvements in 2026/27.
The council revealed last week it intended to allocate £3.36 million of the sum on four projects in the Harrogate district. Three of the four initiatives are cycling schemes.
The schemes are:
• £980,000 on extending a planned cycle route along Pannal Ash Road, which will link to the existing Otley Road cycle route in Harrogate.
• £980,000 on extending the cycle route on Otley Road to provide a continuous link to Beckwithshaw.
• £420,000 on resurfacing and maintaining cycle routes in Harrogate and Knaresborough
• £980,000 on a major resurfacing scheme of the A61 Ripon Road at Ripley.
Responding to the news, Harrogate District Cycle Action said:
Harrogate cycling and active travel campaigners welcome in principle the county council’s plans for valuable new cycle routes on Pannal Ash Road and on Otley Road to Beckwithshaw as well as the budget for maintenance. However, the devil as always is in the detail. The new routes must be in line with the standards set out in the government’s guideline document, LTN 1/20, for example fully segregated cycle lanes where appropriate. Unfortunately the cycle path already provided on part of Otley Road is well below standard. It’s also hugely disappointing that the glaring omission remains - there is still no proposal to provide the most urgently needed route, from Otley Road to the town centre.
Construction of the first phase on Otley Road.
Otley Road revival
Reviving plans to extend the Otley Road cycle route is bound to prove controversial.
Otley Road was seen as a key part of an integrated cycling network from the town centre train station to Cardale Park, which would have also included Victoria Avenue, Beech Grove and the station gateway project.
It was due to be built in three phases but only phase one, from Cold Bath Road to Harlow Moor Road, has been completed.
Hull civil engineering firm PBS Construction was awarded £827,000 in 2021 to construct phase one but the final total was three times as much.
The route was widely criticised for its design and plans to build phase two, which would have connected to Beech Grove, were scrapped. This is the section cyclists feel is vital.
The council said the third phase would be constructed at an unspecified date using contributions from developers who are building thousands of homes around the Cardale Park area but there has been no progress since — until now.
Last week’s funding announcement recommending a continuous link to Beckwithshaw on Otley Road, and linking a cycle toute on Pannal Ash Road with Otley Road, has put the issue back on the agenda, and further details will be eagerly awaited.
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