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01
May 2023
Residents to meet council about future of Otley Road sustainable travel
Officers at North Yorkshire Council will meet with Harrogate residents this month to discuss how £565,000 can be spent on sustainable travel around Harrogate's Otley Road.
The former county council allocated £4.6m to deliver a sustainable transport package in the area but the results so far have disheartened both residents and cyclists.
Most of the money has been spent on the widening of the Harlow Moor Road junction for cars, smart traffic lights and the roundly-criticised cycle path.
Rene Dziabas, chair of Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association, told a meeting of the group’s members last week that it will be putting forward ideas on what the remaining £565,000 could be spent on.
Mr Dziabas said:
Read more:
- Cycling signs on Otley Road are ‘temporary measure’
- Confirmed: second phase of Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route scrapped
Otley Road has faced years of stop-start roadworks and residents have also been scarred by the experience of the cycle path, which was so unpopular that the council were forced to abandon its second phase earlier this year.
One resident asked Mr Dziabas what improvements can realistically be made with the £565,000 but he said it could be the start of a long-term plan to reduce congestion on Otley Road and get people out of their cars.
He said:
Mr Dziabas added that he has been encouraged the approach taken by North Yorkshire Council who he said “appear more willing to listen”.
He said:
It’s expected that proposals for Otley Road will be put before councillors on the Harrogate & Knaresborough area consituency committee in July.
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