North Yorkshire County Council has today appealed for patience as it refills grit bins following the recent prolonged period of snow and ice.

The Stray Ferret received several complaints from residents over the weekend, who said untreated pavements in the Harrogate district were too treacherous for pedestrians, forcing people to walk on roads.

Gritting is the county council’s responsibility and besides employing gritters it maintains more than 3,000 self-help grit bins in North Yorkshire.

People can use the bins to grit minor roads and pavements but not private drives.

Stocks are replenished midwinter and in response to requests.

The long post-Christmas cold snap has led to higher demand than usual and the council’s highways department has urged residents to use salt sparingly.

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County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“I would like to reassure residents that we are currently refilling grit bins and heaps as quickly as we can. This process is a huge task as we have responsibility for more than 3,100 grit bins and 4,700 grit heaps.

“Please bear in mind that those involved in replenishing the bins and heaps are the same people that drive the gritters and deal with other emergencies on the highway network.

“Whilst every effort is made to replenish the grit as soon as possible we do encounter unavoidable delays, which can occur during prolonged or repeated periods of very cold weather.”

Wet weather is forecast for the next few days but the forecast is to turn colder by Friday, with further icy spells.

Road works in the Harrogate district will continue during the third lockdown, according to North Yorkshire County Council.

Several long-term projects were scheduled to take place on some main routes at the start of the year, including Otley Road and Skipton Road in Harrogate.

The lockdown has brought many businesses to a halt, with staff encouraged to stay at home.

But county councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said construction projects, including street and road works, were permitted to continue in accordance with Public Health England and industry guidance.

He added:

“All of this work contributes to the safe, efficient operation of the highways network so other key workers can do what they need to do.”

“As traffic levels are reduced to a minimum, our repair work can be carried out quickly, efficiently and with little or no disruption.”

Mr Mackenzie added contractors were nearing completion of the £15.1m Local Full Fibre Networks scheme, which has seen 170km of gigabit fibre installed in 20 towns in North Yorkshire. He added:

“At the same time, the Superfast North Yorkshire project has continued throughout the covid pandemic in order to ensure that increasing numbers of businesses and households in rural areas have access to high quality broadband, which is even more vital in times of lockdown.”

Three new walking and cycling schemes in Harrogate could potentially get the go-ahead after the government announced over £1m in funding.

North Yorkshire County Council has accepted the grant as part of a five-year, £2 billion programme by the Department for Transport to improve walking and cycling infrastructure.

£1,011,750 has been awarded to NYCC in total, which will go towards three schemes in Harrogate plus one in Whitby.

The schemes under consideration in Harrogate are:

• Oatlands Drive, Harrogate: segregated cycle lanes along an existing cycle route, improved crossing facilities at four locations and other improvements;
• A59, Maple Close, Harrogate to Knaresborough: segregated cycle lanes along an existing cycle route and improved crossing facilities at either end;
• Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, Princes Square to Station Parade: pedestrian crossing improvements, segregated cycling infrastructure and bike storage facilities.

In a statement the council said it will now consult with local residents and stakeholders before deciding which schemes can be taken forward “within the available budget and timescales.”

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NYCC’s councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“The grant awarded to us by the DfT comes with strict conditions. The schemes need to be delivered quickly, should reallocate road space from vehicles in favour of cyclists and pedestrians, and offer alternatives to existing, well-used bus routes.

“All 300 schemes put forward by organisations and members of the public were assessed within the limitations of timescale and cost. Many exceeded by large margins the amount of funding available.

“Following these assessments, those schemes which were most suitable were included in our bid. Whilst this meant that a number of very worthwhile proposals had to be omitted this time, we are confident that there will be many more funding opportunities for them in future.”

Funding for the programme has been released in phases. The county council made a second bid for £1 million worth of funding in August amid criticism it was not ambitious enough in the first phase.

In the first wave of emergency funding, the authority received £133,000 from government – half the potential amount available.

A £60 million project to reroute part of the A59 Harrogate to Skipton road is scheduled to start next summer, if government funding and planning permission is granted.

The project, which will take a year to complete, will see the creation of a three-mile diversion west of Blubberhouses at Kex Gill.

The Department for Transport and North Yorkshire County Council hope the new route will solve problems caused by landslips, which have blighted travel on the road for years.

The road was closed for eight weeks in 2016 and traffic diverted through Ilkley and Otley after heavy rain caused a landslip.

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County councillors are set to pledge further funding next week for the realignment of the road if costs go above a government grant.

Plans for the new road on the A59 at Kex Giill. Picture: North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told the Stray Ferret he was “hopeful” the scheme will go ahead.

He said:

“We are pressing for a decision on the funding.

“It has been a difficult year and there has been a change of government since we put the bid in.

“But everything we are hearing from the Department for Transport is positive.”

Cllr Mackenzie added the project could begin without traffic disruption to begin with but it might occur towards the end when the new road is connected with the existing A59.

The Department for Transport has indicated it will offer up to £56 million towards the project, with the county council covering the remaining £4.95 million.

While the government has yet to give final funding approval, it has set a condition that any further costs would need to be met by the authority.

Council bosses have estimated the overall cost to be £60 million, but added it could increase to £61 million if a public inquiry is held.

A planning application for the project will go before the council’s planning committee on December 15.

Senior county councillors have been recommended to accept the funding condition at a meeting on Tuesday next week.

Roadworks are due to begin today at junction 47 of the A1(M) near Knaresborough, with the £7.7m project set to continue until autumn 2021.

Three of the four slip roads onto and off the roundabout will be widened to increase capacity and traffic lights will be installed to improve the traffic flow. North Yorkshire County Council hopes this will reduce the number of vehicles queuing on the A1 slip road.

Traffic lights will also be added to the T-junction between the A168 and the A59, a short distance from Junction 47 on the York side.

To the west of Junction 47, between the A1 and the Flaxby roundabout, a lane will be added for traffic travelling east, so there will be two lanes in each direction between those two roundabouts.

County Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for roads at NYCC said the council will work with the contractor to minimise disruption for motorists.

He said:

“At busy times, congestion is an issue at this junction, particularly for traffic coming off the southbound carriageway of the A1. The upgrades we will put in place will address this congestion, improve road safety and support development in the towns.”

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There are several major housing developments planned for Knaresborough, including 600 homes at Manse Farm, which Cllr Mackenzie said the roadworks will support.

He added:

“We are looking ahead and helping to support sustainable growth by considering future housing developments, particularly along the A59 corridor between Knaresborough and York.

“Inevitably there will be inconvenience for drivers at certain times during the project, but we will give as much notice as possible and ask people to be patient.”

The project is being funded with £2.47m from the government’s Local Growth Fund along with contributions from NYCC, Highways England and developer Forward Investment LLP.

North Yorkshire County Council is asking the public to help them win £1m of funding from the government to improve walking and cycling in the Harrogate district.

On NYCC’s website, people have until Friday to mark on a map where they think improvements could be made.

The authority is hoping to win a bid of up to £1,065,000 from the Department for Transport’s Emergency Active Travel Fund. The money will be spent on longer-term projects to “help deliver significant health, environmental and congestion benefits”.

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In the first round of funding, the council was allocated £133,000 – half of what it was hoping for.

That money was to help councils put in place short-term solutions such as widening footpaths or the temporary closure of roads. The council said it would make up the other half of funding through its reserves.

Harrogate District Cycling Action told The Stray Ferret at the time that North Yorkshire’s plans “weren’t ambitious enough”.

Speaking about the council’s second bid for funding, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at NYCC, said:

“The new facility we have added to our website to enable anyone to put forward ideas for improvements to cycling and walking provision anywhere in the county is further evidence of our commitment to active and sustainable travel.

“It will remain on our website as a tool to enable us to consider all suggestions from the public.

“If any suitable schemes are submitted immediately, it may be possible to look at those for this tranche of funding, but it is more likely that any schemes that are shown to be practical and appropriate could be considered for future funding opportunities.”

Parliament Street and Kings Road in Harrogate could be partly pedestrianised to encourage social distancing when bars and restaurants reopen.

However, The Stray Ferret understands this is unlikely to be put in place this weekend.

North Yorkshire County Council said it is working with Harrogate BID, Harrogate Borough Council and local businesses to allocate pavement space to bars and restaurants, which would make part of the roads off-limits to cars.

David Bowe, corporate director for business and environmental services at NYCC, said they will only close roads “if there is a clear demand”.

He said:

“We are prepared to close roads in order to support economic recovery but it has to be on the basis of demand and need. If there is a road that we can practically close, even for part of a day, without adversely affecting access, we will be happy to work to achieve that, provided a business definitely wants to use the space.

James Street, Albert Street and parts of Royal Parade currently have cones placed in the road to widen pavements. However, they have been controversial and North Yorkshire County Council has taken them down on West Park after pressure from businesses.

Two streets that could be partly pedestrianised are Parliament Street and Kings Road.

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Jim Mossman, co-founder of the Cold Bath Brewing Co on Kings Road, told The Stray Ferret he had been in discussions with North Yorkshire County Council about road space being re-allocated.

He said:

“If we can create an al fresco type experience in Harrogate then it will help save jobs and businesses in the town.”

Michael Baravelli, general manager at Gino D’Acampo on Parliament Street also said pedestrianisation would help trade at the restaurant.

He said:

“We are working alongside North Yorkshire County Council with the idea and suggestion of putting extra seating outside to give us more street presence. In these summer days, it will help us immensely.”

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways Don Mackenzie says cycling groups must “remain realistic” around improvements to cycling routes in Harrogate.

His words come as the council received just half of the £266,000 that was allocated to them by government to spend on temporary cycling and walking measures. These include coning off some on-street parking bays to widen footpaths.

NYCC will be able to bid for a further £1.1m for larger cycling schemes later this summer but they have been criticised by cycling groups in Harrogate for showing a “lack of ambition” with its initial bid. They also said North Yorkshire did not consult them about the bid.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Cllr Mackenzie said the council is taking a long-term approach to cycle lanes.

He said:

“I’m sure we’ll get more cycle schemes in there. People will have to remain realistic. It costs a million pounds to build 1km of off-road cycle path. We’re only bidding £1.1m for the whole of the county.”

He also said that more road space in Harrogate could be allocated to cycling and walking through the positioning of bollards, which has proved controversial for businesses operating on James Street and West Park.

Whilst Cllr Mackenzie suggested that North Yorkshire received less funding for cycling because of its largely rural geography, other councils such as Suffolk, which also has a large rural population, received 100%. However, Cllr Mackenzie said this type of comparison is unfair.

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He said:

“The nearest county to us is Lincolnshire and they got 50%. Suffolk got 100% but I don’t know what their bid was like.

“We’ve made many bids for cycling. We’re building an off-road cycle path on Otley Road, we’ve applied for the Transforming Cities Funding which involves a lot of improvements for cycling. Sometimes you get 100% and sometimes you don’t.

Yesterday, the Stray Ferret reported that 26 cyclists are injured in collisions in Harrogate a year.

Cllr Mackenzie added:

“Harrogate is very, very safe for cyclists but if you saw some of the comments on social media you’d think it was an absolute deathtrap.