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    19

    Apr 2023

    Last Updated: 19/04/2023
    Transport
    Transport

    New crossing on Harrogate's Wetherby Road 'on track' to be installed this year

    by Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter

    | 19 Apr, 2023
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    slingsbycrossing
    The Wetherby Road crossing will be installed at the Slingsby Walk junction here.

    A new crossing on Wetherby Road in Harrogate is “still on track” to be installed this financial year, say council officials.

    North Yorkshire Council has proposed the crossing to encourage walking and cycling at the junction with Slingsby Walk.

    The plan was first revealed in December and officials now say the scheme is in “the design stage”.

    It will be the fourth set of lights in less than a mile between the Empress roundabout and the Woodlands junction, which is already one of the most congested stretches of road around Harrogate.

    Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at the authority, who approved the crossing last December, said the scheme was still on course to be installed this year.

    He said:

    “We remain on track to install a toucan crossing on Wetherby Road at the junction with Slingsby Walk during this financial year in a bid to encourage walking and cycling.
    “A feasibility study has been carried out and we are now in the design stage of the scheme.
    “This is a key and popular route, and the crossing will make journeys on foot and by bike safer and more convenient.”


    Council officials have estimated the crossing could double the number of cyclists using the Slingsby Walk route, which runs alongside the Stray.




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    However, officers at the authority also admitted the crossing is likely to cause further delays for drivers.

    In a report outlining the proposal, Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transportation at the council, accepted the move would likely increase pressure on the road network.

    He added there were also officer concerns over “existing traffic congestion on this section of Wetherby Road”.

    However, he said these concerns had to be balanced against the benefit that it would offer to pedestrians and cyclists.

    Funding of £75,000 for the crossing was secured from the former Harrogate Borough Council sustainable transport budget last year.