Readers’ Letters: A £500,000 traffic light revamp in Harrogate ‘will fail’

Readers’ Letters is a free weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter follows news of £500,000 potentially being invested into two new sets of traffic lights by the new Labour mayor. 

Here we go again…or hopefully not.

In 2017, North Yorkshire County Council spent £210,000 on new ‘smart’ traffic lights, which we were told would deal with congestion at the junction of Parliament Street, Kings Road and Ripon Road. But congestion has just got worse.

Now it’s proposed to spend £500,000 of the mayoral investment fund to ‘revamp’ the lights. This – if it happens – will also fail.

The only way to reduce the congestion is to reduce the amount of traffic. This requires reducing the amount people needing to travel and, instead, investing our very scarce resources in the alternatives - like public transport, walking and cycling - to make them more attractive.

Malcolm Margolis, Harrogate 

Crown Place highlights Harrogate’s spa town heritage

This reader gives credit to Crown Place, a cobbled street towards the Valley Gardens in Harrogate.

In studying the Station Gateway scheme and its potentials for Harrogate, might people give due accord to Crown Place.

It is between the Pump Room Museum and The Crown Hotel.

It shows the heritage of Harrogate, which was in its prime during the Victoria Spa town era, with flagstone paving and setts etc.

I’m not wishing to turn the clock back, but a modern version of that character is what is needed.

David Turner Rhodes, Ripley 

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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