A Harrogate cycling group has said North Yorkshire County Council needs to “deliver” cycling schemes after years of promises.

The council revealed yesterday it planned to bid for £3.19 million to help fund projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Both schemes — on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and Harrogate Road in Knaresborough — were previously announced in 2020.

Now the council needs to await the outcome of its bid to tranche four of the Department for Transport’s active travel fund before knowing if either initiative can go ahead.

It follows the council’s decision to abandon phase two of the Otley Road cycle route in Harrogate and the closure of nearby Beech Grove to through traffic, as well as ongoing uncertainty over whether the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway will go ahead.

The Otley Road cycle route

The initiatives were part of a wider ambition to create a linked off-road cycle route from Cardale Park to Harrogate train station.

Plans to improve cycling on Oatlands Drive were also shelved.

Kevin Douglas, chair of Harrogate District Cycling Action, said:

“We welcome the fact that the council is continuing to bid. But what we would like to see is some delivery.

“Standalone cycle schemes are not going to work. We need a single, segregated, joined-up cycle route to make sure people are safe.”

Read more:

• Council bids for £3m for cycling projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough
• Cycling group questions commitment to active travel in Harrogate district

Mr Douglas described as “slightly embarrassing” yesterday’s comments by Councillor Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive member for highways at the council, that the latest bid was “another significant milestone in our efforts to deliver a more balanced approach to travel in the county”.

Mr Douglas said the only new active travel scheme had been the first phase of the Otley Road cycle route, which he said remained incomplete and unsafe, adding:

“There have been no new schemes here. Now they are seeking additional funds for schemes they have already announced.

“I’m not sure how they can talk about their track record for delivery.”

Victoria Avenue, which is the council’s priority scheme, would see improvements to public spaces, pedestrian crossings and segregated cycleways. Parking spaces would be removed.

A decision on bids submitted for the active travel fund is expected from the government on March 17. 

Construction must begin on successful projects before March 31, 2024.

North Yorkshire County Council is set to bid for £3.19 million from the government to help fund two cycling schemes in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways at the council, confirmed that the authority had approved a submission for the funding from tranche four of the Department for Transport’s active travel fund.

The county council has been allocated £1.08 million of funding, although it has been invited to bid for an additional £2.16 million.

It will see the funding go towards improvements to public spaces, pedestrian crossings and segregated cycleways on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate.

Segregated cycling lanes would be created on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate.

This would use the full £1.08 million of the tranche four funding already awarded and would require a further £492,000 from the remaining tranche two funds. The Victoria Avenue project is described by the council as its ‘priority scheme’.

A further scheme would see segregated cycle lanes created in Knaresborough at a cost of £1.65 million. They would be created on the A59 Forest Lane Head/Harrogate Road starting around Maple Close toward Knaresborough, ending close to Knaresborough High Bridge.

The council has said this would “deliver improved crossing facilities to link existing cycle routes, Knaresborough town centre and the railway station”.

Today’s announcement appears to amount to the council reviving previously announced plans to improve cycling on Victoria Avenue and the A59 at Knaresborough — if it can secure funding.

The council has also earmarked a scheme in Richmond as part of the bid.

Cllr Duncan said:

“We want to enable more people in North Yorkshire to have the option of safely and conveniently walking, wheeling and riding.

“Our latest bid, worth more than £3 million, is another significant milestone in our efforts to deliver a more balanced approach to travel in the county, which will reduce emissions, cut congestion and promote healthier lifestyles.

“The new infrastructure in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Richmond would significantly improve road safety and unlock an estimated 579 additional walking and cycling trips per day.

“The bid builds on our efforts to encourage more sustainable travel, which in recent years has seen us secure more than £55m of central government funding.”

Read more:

• Confirmed: second phase of Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route scrapped
• Harrogate’s Otley Road to be dug up again

The move comes after the county council scrapped plans for the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route this month.

The council, which is the highways authority, also revealed it would not be bringing back restrictions for motorists on nearby Beech Grove.

Instead it will propose new measures to tackle speed in the streets surrounding Otley Road, improved crossings for cyclists, better signage for cycle routes and improvements to bus infrastructure.

A decision on bids submitted for the active travel fund is expected from the government on March 17. 

Construction must begin on successful projects before March 31, 2024.

The Otley Road cycleway in Harrogate has cost £2,234,000 so far  — almost triple the amount awarded to contractors to construct the first phase.

Hull civil engineering firm PBS Construction was awarded £827,000 in 2021 to build phase one from Harlow Moor Road to Cold Bath Road.

The much-criticised route opened in January last year but subsequent remedial work and design fees for phase two of the project — which has since been scrapped — increased the cost significantly.

The widening of the Otley Road and Harlow Moor Road junction was the main remedial work.

The figures are contained in a North Yorkshire County Council report, which raises questions over whether the council had sufficient funds to complete the second phase of the scheme.

Councillor Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, said phase two had been dropped because it lacked public support.

But the report reveals the council has just £565,000 remaining of the £4,275,000 it secured in 2018 from the government’s National Productivity Investment Fund for measures that enabled development and business growth in west Harrogate

The funding and spending figures contained in the report are reproduced below.

According to the document, council officers received “multiple reports” about the design and construction of the cycleway from residents and groups such as Harrogate District Cycle Action after it opened. It adds:

“These were then reviewed with our design consultants WSP, and a list of remedial works have now been prepared.

“These remedial works were planned to be completed in the early part of 2023. However, in May 2022 the fibre optic network company City Fibre contacted North Yorkshire County Council with a request to install fibre optic cables down the full length of the newly constructed cycleway.

“We have negotiated with City Fibre to reinstate the full width of the cycleway at their expense. We will therefore carry out our outstanding remedial works once City Fibre have installed their apparatus.”

The report adds £60,000 of the remaining funds are expected to cover these remedial works.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Otley Road to be dug up again
• Confirmed: second phase of Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle route scrapped

The council has said it will come up with new traffic calming measures in the west of Harrogate to compensate for scrapping phase two of the scheme, which would have extended the cycleway from Cold Bath Road towards Beech Grove.

It still has aspirations to construct phase three out of town to Cardale Park at an unspecified time in the future.

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways area manager Melisa Burnham said:

“Although construction costs increased to £970,000 following completion, this was still within our anticipated budget. The increase was a result of additional design works and remedials found whilst on site.

“The remaining costs include design, feasibility, surveys and utility diversions required to deliver phase one and two of the cycleway, and the Harlow Moor Road junction improvement to date.”

The second phase of Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle way has been scrapped, North Yorkshire County Council confirmed today.

The council, which is the highways authority, also revealed it would not be bringing back restrictions for motorists on nearby Beech Grove.

Instead it will propose new measures to tackle speed in the streets surrounding Otley Road, improved crossings for cyclists, better signage for cycle routes and improvements to bus infrastructure.

Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, hinted last month the second of three proposed phases for Otley Road would not proceed after none of three options put forward proved popular with cyclists, walkers or motorists.

Today the council issued a statement saying “an alternative package of measures for Otley Road will be outlined and presented to the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee this summer”.

The area constituency committee advises North Yorkshire County Council on local issues although its powers are expected to be beefed-up when North Yorkshire Council comes into existence on April 1.

The statement said:

“After listening to public concerns, it is proposed that construction of phase two of Otley Road cycle way is not advanced, and the Beech Grove restrictions are not made permanent.

“Instead, it is proposed that the remaining funding of up to £500,000 in the National Productivity Investment Fund package is used for other measures to encourage active travel, support growth and address safety concerns along the Otley Road corridor.”

Otley Road cycle path

Phase one of the Otley Road cycle way, which was completed in January last year, links Harrogate Grammar School, residential areas and Cardale Park. It has been widely criticised for its design.

The proposed phase two would link Arthurs Avenue to the town centre, and phase three Harlow Moor Road to Cardale Park.

The experimental traffic restrictions on Beech Grove and Lancaster Road, which prevented non-residential through traffic, ran from April 2021 to August last year.

‘Listening to feedback’

Cllr Duncan said today:

“Our proposal to consider an alternative package of sustainable transport measures demonstrates how we are listening to public feedback. Halting construction of phase two allows us the opportunity to prepare new measures with local input and support.

“The constraints of Otley Road meant it was always going to be difficult to meet government cycle infrastructure design standards without infringing on the Stray, widening the road or removing trees.

“We consulted on a number of options, but these were not fully compliant and attracted criticism. Cyclists have expressed concerns that the proposed cycle way would not encourage more cycling due to its design, while pedestrians said they were concerned about their safety.

“Given the concerns, it is right that we think again and explore alternative measures to promote walking, cycling and use of public transport.”

Concerns were expressed about possible conflict between cyclists and pedestrians because an entirely segregated cycle way could not be created due to constraints such as protected trees, Stray land and carriageway width.

The next steps will be considered at a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s business and environmental services corporate director and executive member on Friday.

A cycling group has said the expected abandonment of the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route has raised serious questions about the commitment to active travel in the Harrogate district.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, said yesterday none of the proposed Otley Road options had proved popular and he was asking “serious questions” about whether to proceed.

Kevin Douglas, chair of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said his group was one of the council’s consultees on the scheme and he was disappointed not to have been told the news.

He said the council had confidently predicted the scheme would succeed in 2017 and six years later only a third of it had been delivered.

Mr Douglas agreed there were problems with phase one but said shelving the scheme wasn’t the solution. He said he’d like to see alternative proposals and a more consistent commitment to active travel in the district, adding:

“If they do scrap it there needs to be very careful scrutiny of what’s happened here and whether there is a real commitment to doing things properly.

“To do these schemes you have got to be committed to change, like in Leeds and York.

“Let’s get Active Travel England, who are experts, to come in and look at the county council’s proposals and see what they think of them.”

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Otley Road cycleway: next phase looks set to be shelved
• Dismay as North Yorkshire awarded just £220,000 to boost cycling and walking

The three-phase Otley Road cycle route was supposed to be part of a wider scheme providing safe cycling between Cardale Park and the town centre. Mr Douglas said:

“If they don’t build phase two I’m not sure how they are going to see that through.”

He compared the lack of progress on Otley Road and other active travel schemes, such as Beech Grove and Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and Harrogate Road in Knaresborough, as well as the Harrogate Station Gateway, with the £70 million realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill, which is about to get underway.

Mr Douglas said removing car parking space on Beech Grove would encourage cyclists to use the road yet it wasn’t one of the options included in the Otley Road phase two consultation.

He said it was wrong to blame cyclists for the scheme collapsing when the real issue was a lack of commitment to active travel.

A decision on whether to proceed with the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway could depend on a Liberal Democrat-controlled committee of councillors.

The gateway scheme, which would radically transform the area opposite Harrogate train station, has proved highly divisive and controversial.

It would see James Street partly pedestrianised and a section of Station Parade reduced to single lane traffic to make way for cycle lanes.

Funding for the scheme was secured in March 2020 but nearly three years later, and despite three consultations, North Yorkshire County Council has yet to make a final decision on whether to proceed.

Part of James Street would be pedestrianised.

The council’s Conservative-controlled executive has now said the scheme will come before its Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee before a final decision is made. Eight of the committee’s 14 members are Liberal Democrats.

The committee is currently only an advisory body but Cllr Keane Duncan, the executive member for highways and transportation at the council, suggested its views will be crucial. He said:

“It would be very difficult for us to proceed with the scheme if local elected councillors were opposed.

“The people of Harrogate and Knaresborough have elected councillors. The majority of those are not Conservative, they are of a different political persuasion to the executive. We want to listen to what those councillors say.”

Read more:

• New consultation reveals more people still oppose than support £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
• Harrogate Station Gateway consultation in numbers

Asked whether the Conservatives had passed the buck on such a political hot potato, Cllr Duncan replied:

“It is a hot potato but with great power comes great responsibility. Local people in Harrogate and Knaresborough have elected their councillors and we have all stood on a platform to make difficult decisions.

“The executive of the county council believes very strongly in localism. We want to ask local councillors for their views and we will pay very due attention to their views. That’s the right thing to do.”

Cllr Keane Duncan in Harrogate

Cllr Duncan, who lives in Ryedale, said he had no vested interest in the scheme, which he inherited when he took up his role in May last year. But he added:

“Having looked at it as an outsider, I feel there are great advantages in terms of improving the pedestrian and cycle links and making this corner of the town centre easier to access and a better place to spend time, so on balance I’m supportive.”

Consultation was ‘never a referendum’

The third consultation revealed once again more people feel negatively than possibly towards the scheme, albeit by a slender margin of 46% to 45%, with nine per cent neutral.

Cllr Duncan said the consultation “was never meant to be a referendum” and there was “significant support” for key elements of the scheme, including changes to the public realm and better walking and cycling infrastructure. He added:

“If you look at the actual figures there were just 17 more negative responses than positive responses. And if you factor in the nine percent neutral responses, actually that’s a long way away from the universal negativity that many people would suggest, because most people are positive or neutral towards it.

“With all that support that’s been expressed by the public, it would be a shame not to bring this project that’s been ongoing for a very long time to a decision point for councillors to be able to make a decision one way or another.”

Cllr Duncan also suggested scrapping the scheme could damage Harrogate and North Yorkshire’s chances of future funding.

“More than £11 million would be spent elsewhere in North Yorkshire or returned to government. I think that would be a great shame for Harrogate but also it would rock government’s confidence in North Yorkshire and that would be a great shame for Harrogate and the county.”

Cllr Keane Duncan will talk about other Harrogate transport issues, such as the A59 Kex Gill realignment, the proposed park and ride and the threat to bus services in an interview on Saturday.

A New Year’s Eve cycle ride is being held around Harrogate to raise money for Harrogate Homeless Project.

Entrants will depart from cycling shop Prologue on Cold Bath Road, Harrogate and take part in either a 35-mile or 55-mile route.

Coffee will be served from 9am and rides leave from 9.30am, with the fastest riders leaving first in groups of 16.

The entry fee is £5 with all the proceeds going to Harrogate Homeless Project.

Victoria Mannakee, director of Harrogate-based event management company Struggle Events, which is organising the event, said:

“Just two £5 entries is enough to provide a hot meal, shower, clothing and laundry facilities for one person. Three entries is enough to get someone off the street for a night.

“Over 100 riders entered last New Year’s Eve. Think what we can do as a cycling collective if every rider simply turned up to Prologue and rode their bikes this New Year’s Eve.”

“It’s a great social atmosphere; Harrogate’s cycling club members, local professional riders, individual riders, triathletes and social cyclists join forces to raise much-needed funds for the Harrogate Homeless Project.”

Many top cyclists, including Olympic champions Jonny and Alistair Brownlee and Tour de France stage winner Tom Pidcock, often take part in Struggle Events’  community rides.

You can enter here or on the day.

Read more:

• Prologue opens ‘luxury showroom’ for bikes in Harrogate
• Cycling consultation event highlights Harrogate’s deep divide

A heated consultation event about the latest plans to encourage cycling in Harrogate highlighted the dilemma facing decision-makers.

North Yorkshire County Council held the event at Harrogate Civic Centre on Friday to hear views about the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route.

Some residents in the area made it clear they didn’t think any of the three options put forward were practical and called for the scheme to be scrapped.

They accused the council staff present of ignoring their views and claimed the consultation was a waste of time.

But some cyclists, frustrated by the length of time it is taking to implement active travel schemes that have funding in place, urged the council to get on with it. However, they have concerns about how safe some of the options are for cyclists.

Studying the designs for the various options.

A major problem for the council is the narrowness of Otley Road and nearby streets that could be affected, such as Beech Grove and Victoria Road.

It makes it difficult to introduce cycle lanes wide enough to meet current design standards without imposing traffic restrictions, such as one-way systems.

Melisa Burnham, area highways manager at the council, said the consultation had so far received more than 100 replies. She added:

“Otley Road is incredibly constrained and we are trying hard to find the right way forward.”

To take part in the consultation, which ends on November 28, click here.

The three options for Otley Road

Option 1

The first option is what was originally proposed for this second phase of the Otley Road cycle path, which runs between the junctions of Cold Bath Road and Beech Grove.

These plans include junction upgrades and shared cycle paths and footways, similar to what has already been built on Otley Road. But the county council said some sections could be too narrow, which is why it is considering re-routing.

Option 2

Under these plans the route would be diverted onto Victoria Road with a one-way traffic system and the removal of some parking spaces to allow for a 1.5 metre wide cycle path.

The one-way traffic system would run up until Lancaster Road, before connecting with Beech Grove.

Option 3

This final option would see a 3m wide shared cycle path and footway built on Queens Road before connecting with Lancaster Road and Beech Grove.

Parallel and toucan crossings are also proposed.

A cycling group has warned that one of the new options being considered to promote active travel in Harrogate could create a ‘murder strip’ for cyclists.

Cyclists describe unprotected cycle lanes on busy roads as murder strips — and there are fears one could be created on Beech Grove.

North Yorkshire County Council has put forward three options as part of its latest consultation on increasing cycling and walking in Harrogate on Otley Road and the nearby area.

Harrogate District Cycle Action has said the second option is so dangerous it shouldn’t even be offered.

It would involve making traffic one-way on Beech Grove heading out of town and creating an unprotected cycle lane on the opposite side.

Image by Harrogate District Cycle Action

Harrogate District Cycle Action’s submission to the consultation says there isn’t enough width for parking, a traffic lane, and a contraflow cycle lane.

It says the contraflow cycle lane “would be a narrow ‘murder-strip’ in the gutter, very likely 1m 30 wide at the most – i.e. less than the absolute minimum width”. It adds:

“Oncoming traffic would be less likely to slow down to pass, as drivers would think ‘I’m in my lane, the cyclist is in theirs, so I’ll keep going at full speed.’

“That would lead to unpleasant experiences with oncoming vehicles that would feel – and be – dangerous.”

The group is critical of the decision to even consult on the idea.

“Option 2 is nonsense, and should not be presented as an option at all in this consultation. It provides zero benefit to active travel – indeed, it may make matters worse.”

Asked to comment on the cycling group’s concerns, a council spokeswoman said:

“This is a live consultation so we can’t comment. All feedback will be considered when it closes. “

Beech Grove has reopened to through traffic after an 18-month closure.

The three options

Option 1 – The existing proposal on Otley Road 

The first option is what was originally proposed for this phase of the Otley Road cycle path which runs between the junctions of Cold Bath Road and Beech Grove.

These plans include junction upgrades and shared cycle paths and footways, similar to what has already been built on Otley Road. But the county council said some sections could be too narrow, which is why it is considering re-routing.

Harrogate District Cycle Action supports this option.

Option 2 – An alternative route using Victoria Road

Under these plans the route would be diverted onto Victoria Road with a one-way traffic system and the removal of some parking spaces to allow for a 1.5 metre wide cycle path.

The one-way traffic system would run up until Lancaster Road, before connecting with Beech Grove.

Option 3 – An alternative route using Queens Road

This final option would see a 3m wide shared cycle path and footway built on Queens Road before connecting with Lancaster Road and Beech Grove.

Parallel and toucan crossings are also proposed.