Transport chief Keane Duncan to attend tonight’s Harrogate Station Gateway meeting

Transport chief Keane Duncan has confirmed he will attend tonight’s eagerly-anticipated business meeting on the £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.

As executive member for highways and transportation, road safety, cycling and active transport at North Yorkshire Council, Cllr Duncan has oversight of the scheme.

The Conservative politician will join senior council staff to give an update and answer questions from the audience.

The event, at the Cedar Court Hotel, is open to members of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce and Harrogate Business Improvement District levy payers.

Members of the public are unable to attend but the Stray Ferret will be publishing a live blog from the event for subscribers as there is considerable interest in the gateway, particularly as work is due to begin within weeks even though the final plans have not been revealed yet and won’t go out to public consultation.

Some of the issues likely to be raised tonight include details of the new bus lane and cycle lane, and what impact they will have on parking, including disabled parking, and loading bays.

The council is developing gateway schemes in Harrogate, Skipton and Selby at a combined cost of £44.6 million, having secured funding from the government's Transforming Cities Fund. It has also spent £2.4 million on consultants for the Harrogate scheme.

Each one aims to improve the ‘gateway’ to the towns and encourage sustainable transport. However, cycling groups in Harrogate say the initial active travel goals have been watered down to the point where there are only marginal benefits, and question the wisdom of a short cycle lane on Station Parade that isn’t connected to a wider cycle route.

The proposed scheme

The latest plans for Harrogate, which have been scaled back since the council admitted its original proposals breached public law, include:

• A short southbound cycle lane on Station Parade

• A new bus lane

• Public realm improvements to the One Arch pedestrian tunnel and Station Square, with the tempietto being destroyed.

• Retaining the taxi rank on Station Parade

Cllr Duncan said the council had listened to concerns by removing the two elements that attracted the most controversy — reducing some of Station Parade to single lane and pedestrianising part of James Street — and the scheme now “provides benefits for all transport users”.

Traffic regulation orders for the gateway have been published. Concept drawings can be viewed here, here and here.  

But they are subject to change and the final, full plans won’t be consulted on.

The Stray Ferret has followed the gateway saga closely in recent years. Use the comment section below to tell us what you would like to see happen at tonight’s meeting, which you can follow by subscribing here.