Major new Harrogate active travel proposals, including the extension of the Otley Road cycle route, were revealed at a drop-in session on Friday (July 31).

North Yorkshire Council staff showed designs and spoke with cyclists, local politicians and members of the public.

The proposals include extending the Otley Road cycle route to Beckwithshaw, creating a shared pedestrian and cycle route on Pannal Ash Road and upgrading the toucan crossing near Rossett Acre Primary School.

They form part of wider plans to encourage walking and cycling and reduce car dependency in the west of Harrogate, where thousands of homes are being built — although the sluggish housing market appears to have slowed progress.

The Stray Ferret attended the session to learn more about the plans and find out what people think.

Here are seven key points that emerged.

1 Otley Road ‘missing link’ remains

Although Otley Road cycle route is to be extended east to Pot Bank at Beckwithshaw, where the mini-roundabout is due to be widened, previous plans to extend it west from Cold Bath Road to Beech Grove have not been revived. Malcolm Margolis, of the campaign group Harrogate District Cycle Action, urged the council to “drop its illogical opposition” to this, and to reinstall the planters on Beech Grove along with the proposed-but-never-introduced traffic plug at the top of Victoria Road that would have prevented vehicles from entering that road. This would fulfil the council’s previous aspiration of creating a seamless cycle route between the new housing developments in west Harrogate and the centre of the town. 

2 Conflict with pedestrians

Harrogate District Cycle Action says the Otley Road extension route is generally about 5 metres 10cms wide. However, it and some of the Pannal Ash cycle route will be shared with pedestrians. Professor John Wann, who has studied the transport plans for west Harrogate in detail, said this was a concern and he highlighted Department for Transport guidance which says: "In urban areas conversion of a footway to shared use should be regarded as a last resort.” Prof Wann said: “For me, this is the biggest issue. I quizzed North Yorkshire Council on this and they said they were going to provide a separating line. I don’t think that’s enough. I would favour a colour/tone change, e.g. light blue on the cycleway with a thin rumble strip between the two sides.”

3 Fears over usage

Prof Wann said the current Otley Road cycle route design “has rendered it unsuitable for all but the slowest of cyclists, it is much easier and possibly safer to stay on the road”. It is not yet known if the extension will follow a similar design. However, there is a 213-foot elevation from Cold Bath Road to Pot Bank. Cyclists travelling at speed downhill into Harrogate may find it safer to stay on the road than weave in and out of a cycle route that has pedestrians wandering on it.

4 Cost unknown 

Council staff said the extension would be funded by contributions made by housing developers through Section 106 legal agreements and by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. The total sum was not disclosed. The combined authority did not say how much it will be contributing when asked after the meeting by the Stray Ferret.

5 A missed opportunity?

John Rowe, of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said it risked being “an awful lot of spend for limited benefit” because there was scope for more ambitious measures, such as a better segregated cycle route. He also questioned why active travel measures weren’t being proposed for Whinney Lane, which is at the epicentre of the housing developments.

6 Pannal Ash Road fears

Cyclists also raised concerns about the Pannal Ash Road designs. Mr Margolis said: “The roundabout at the top of Pannal Ash Road will have zebra crossings for pedestrians but no improvements for cyclists. We want the width of the road around the roundabout reduced so that drivers have no room to squeeze past cyclists as they sometimes do now.” He also said proposals to create two toucan crossings for cycle path users on Pannal Ash Road were “unlikely to work”. He added: “Most cyclists won’t stop, dismount, press the button and wait to cross. They’ll use the road.

"It’s crucial that the new paths work well, and are well used by people of all ages, not least by the many children going to and from school.”

7 Six trees to be felled

Four trees on Otley Road and two trees on Pannal Ash Road are due to be lost. Prof Wann said this would have “less annual impact on CO2 levels that than a single family doing school drop-offs for just one half-term”.

Overall, Prof Wann said the plans “look pretty good” particularly as there was a “genuine risk of complete saturation of the Otley Road corridor at peak times by 2030 with the developments proposed”.

But he added: “If you don’t build a safe cycling route then people won’t cycle and they won’t tell their kids they need to cycle. But there are many cities across the world where you can see behaviour change has worked and 1000s of people a day are commuting by bike in cycle lanes. A ‘not for us’ attitude will ultimately lead to congestion chaos.”

Mr Margolis said Harrogate District Cycle Action “supports a lot of the council’s proposals for cycle paths on Otley Road and Pannal Ash Road but believe they could, and need to be, significantly improved”.

What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below.