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27
Jul 2021
North Yorkshire highways boss ‘confident’ in bid for £1.5m active travel projects
The highways boss of North Yorkshire County Council has expressed confidence that the authority will win most of the £1.5m it is bidding for under the latest round of active travel projects.
Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, approved the bid to the government’s active travel fund at a meeting on Friday.
The application includes funding for four projects, two of which are in the Harrogate district. They include traffic calming measures in Ripon and a feasibility study into the creation of a 7km cycleway and footpath between Knaresborough and Flaxby Green Park.
The bid is being made to the third round of the active travel fund. The council only secured half of the £266,000 allocated to it by the Department for Transport in the first round but won almost all of the £1m it bid for in the second round.
Cllr Mackenzie said:
Under the latest plans, around £550,000 would be spent on the development of “sustainable travel corridors” in the west of Ripon. These could include footway widening, better crossing facilities and traffic calming measures.
The council also said feasibility work for the proposed 7km cyclepath between Knaresborough and Flaxby Green Park would cost £50,000 and that it would link with wider plans to improve connections to York.
There are also plans for schemes in Craven and Ryedale.
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Under earlier rounds of the fund, cash has been earmarked for cycle lanes and junction upgrades on the A59 between Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as similar improvements in the Victoria Avenue area of Harrogate town centre.
There were also plans for a one-way traffic system and junction filters on Oatlands Drive but these were scrapped after a fierce backlash from residents.
Instead, the council is carrying out a feasibility study this summer to look into what other improvements could be made not just on Oatlands Drive but also the surrounding area.
The aim for the A59 and Victoria Avenue schemes is for construction to start in November with completion in March 2022.
A government decision on the third round bid is expected in autumn and, if successful, the funds must be spent before March 2023.
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