A safety audit at a notorious Killinghall junction has ruled out introducing traffic lights.
North Yorkshire Council, which conducted the audit after a pedestrian was badly injured in February, has also rejected installing a mini-roundabout.
Instead it has recommended repainting the yellow box junction and investigating other measures, such as shortening the length of the Ripon Road bus shelter to create more space for cars going in and out of the Tesco car park.
Councillor Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, updated residents in a recent email.
Cllr Harrison instigated the safety audit after February’s accident heightened longstanding concerns about the Ripon Road and Otley Road junction.
The new Tesco has added another dimension to the issues facing motorists and pedestrians in the centre of the village.
His latest email said the council discovered about 4,600 vehicles exited the B6161 Otley Road junction every 24 hours. of these, 90% turn left to Ripley. A third of the right-turning traffic then go to Tesco.
Cllr Harrison’s email concluded that “we know this junction is not ideal, but working out what to do about it remains a challenge”.
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Villager Tom Beardsell remains in favour of traffic lights. He said:
“I feel a fully smart signalised junction is the most sensible and safe before there is a fatality at this junction.
“There is far too much going on around that junction especially now the Tesco connivence store is in full swing.
“Re-painting the road markings and yellow box area will help initially, but it doesn’t distract from the fact there is limited visibility from the Tesco carpark in both directions especially when a bus is at the stop.”
The Ripon Road entrance to the Tesco car park.
Mr Beardsell added he didn’t see any benefit in widening the Tesco entrance and would prefer to see the bus stop moved elsewhere.
He said:
“I first reported the issues at this junction in late January this year, eight months later we are here and there continues to be incidents. How long will it take to make the solution clear and be implemented?”
Asked by the Stray Ferret what he would like to see done, Cllr Harrison said:
Five traffic lights stolen at roadworks in Knaresborough“I would like to see a bypass for Killinghall – that is the only solution to remove all of the issues.”
Five sets of traffic lights have been stolen from one of the busiest junctions in Knaresborough.
The lights were taken from the junction of York Place and King James Road, close to King James’s School.
Northern Gas Networks is carrying out roadworks at the junction. Work is due to end on Friday next week.
The theft of the lights was not reported to police until at least 14 hours after it happened.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:
“The theft of five temporary traffic lights in Knaresborough was reported at 2.38pm on Monday.
“It happened on King James Road and York Place between 11am on Sunday, July 30 and midnight.”
The Stray Ferret asked how much the lights were worth. The spokesperson replied “thousands of pounds”.
Councillor Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, said the theft was both unusual and unwelcome. He added:
“It has caused disruption, delays and additional costs to the works.
“I am working with officers on how repeat occurrences can be prevented and a reduction in the town’s vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”
Anyone with information can contact the police by dialling 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The police reference number is NYP-31072023-0313.
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- Overheating ice machine caused fire in village pub near Knaresborough
Bond End roadworks in Knaresborough due to end on Friday
Roadworks causing misery for motorists in Knaresborough are due to end on Friday.
Traffic lights have been causing severe delays at Bond End since May 2.
The roadworks paused last weekend for the coronation but returned yesterday, causing tailbacks in all directions.
Electricity distribution company Northern Powergrid is laying underground electricity cables to support the redevelopment of Dower House Hotel, which is due to reopen this year under the new name The Knaresborough Inn.
A Northern Powergrid spokesperson said:
“As part of the investment scheme, traffic management is in place until Friday 12 May while the company digs to lay the new electricity cables.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing to residents and businesses, and although unavoidable, we can appreciate it is very disruptive. All work and traffic management was agreed with the appropriate local authority and permits granted to carry out the necessary work.
“Traffic management helps to enable safe access for engineers to carry out their work, and for residents and motorists alike.”
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Three months of roadworks between Ripon and Harrogate start tomorrow
Three months of nighttime roadworks are scheduled to begin tomorrow on the main road between Ripon and Harrogate.
The A61 will be dug up as part of fibre optics company City Fibre‘s £46 million digital infrastructure upgrade in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.
Traffic lights are scheduled to be in place until July 13.
Kim Johnston, regional partnership director at City Fibre said:
“Works will take place 7pm to 6.30am, Monday to Friday, with the road returned to two-way traffic every morning.”
A City Fibre spokesperson added “there may be a small amount of weekend work, subject to confirmation with highways”, adding:
“If this is the case, City Fibre will actively avoid any weekend with a major local event like Harrogate Flower Show.”
The entire length of the A61 between Ripon and Harrogate will be affected, including some residential areas.
Asked whether people could expect drilling and other noise at nights, a CityFibre spokesperson said it “working closely with the council and managing disruption as best they can”.
City Fibre is installing next generation full fibre connectivity to almost every home and business in the area.
Ms Johnston added:
“This is a major undertaking, which is why we work closely with our build partner, local authorities and the council’s highways team to manage disruption as best we can and ensure works are delivered quickly, and always to our high standards.”
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Three months of roadworks on A61 from Harrogate to Ripon set to begin
Roadworks are set to bring three months of disruption to motorists travelling between Ripon and Harrogate.
The A61 will be dug up as part of fibre optics company City Fibre‘s £46 million digital infrastructure upgrade in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.
Work has been completed in most areas. However, signs have gone up on the A61 Ripon Road warning that nighttime work will take place between April 17 and July 13.
Kim Johnston, regional partnership director at City Fibre said:
“From April 17, we will be starting work on the A61 between Harrogate and Ripon.
“This work will last for approximately three months and will require traffic management on one side of the road.
“Works will take place 7pm to 6.30am, Monday to Friday, with the road returned to two-way traffic every morning.”
Traffic lights will be in place during these hours, and no detours are planned.
A City Fibre spokesperson added “there may be a small amount of weekend work, subject to confirmation with highways”, adding:
“If this is the case, City Fibre will actively avoid any weekend with a major local event like Harrogate Flower Show.”
The entire length of the A61 between Ripon and Harrogate will be affected.
Ms Johnston said:
“CityFibre is investing £46m in transforming Harrogate and Ripon’s digital infrastructure and bringing next generation full fibre connectivity to almost every home and business in the area.
“This is a major undertaking, which is why we work closely with our build partner, local authorities and the council’s highways team to manage disruption as best we can and ensure works are delivered quickly, and always to our high standards.”
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Curious Cow roadworks near Harrogate to end tomorrow
Roadworks that have caused lengthy delays near Harrogate for the last month are due to end tomorrow.
Four-way traffic lights were installed at the roundabout near the Curious Cow at Oaker Bank, Killinghall to allow Express Utilities to put in utility infrastructure for a nearby housing development.
The roadworks were due to continue until Friday but Matthew Ross, operations director at Express Utilities, said today:
“I am able to confirm that Express Utilities have progressed with our planned work at this location ahead of schedule.
“We are now due to complete and remove all of our traffic management set up by Monday 13th February.”
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- Free Saturday parking to return in Harrogate after ‘technical error’
Power cut hits shops and 4,000 homes in Harrogate
A power outage hit 4,246 households and forced shops to close in Harrogate this morning.
The outage affected homes around Otley Road and Leeds Road, as well as businesses in the Oatlands and Harlow Hill areas.
While Northern Powergrid said it only lasted for 10 minutes, customers reported problems for around half an hour from 10am onwards.
Both M&S Food and the Co-op in the Oatlands area had to ask customers to leave when their lights, fridges and automatic doors stopped working. Other shops in the area also closed during the outage.
Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings were also reported to have been affected by the power cut.
A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said:
“Everything is completely back on now. We don’t know what caused it, but we have transferred customers onto a healthier part of the network and our engineers are investigating.”
Read more:
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- More crossings needed in Oatlands area, says Harrogate councillor
Collision leaves traffic lights out of action on Station Parade
A van has collided with a traffic light at the junction of Station Parade and Victoria Avenue in Harrogate.
A white Peugeot van and a second vehicle were involved in the collision this morning, which has left the traffic lights out of action across the junction.
North Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service are both on the scene.
Police officers are directing traffic and there is a short queue along Station Parade approaching the junction.
Traffic is unable to turn or continue into the eastern section of Victoria Avenue, towards Harrogate Baptist Church.
We will publish more information as we get it.
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Harrogate roadworks ‘paused’ until New Year
Northern Gas Networks has paused its “slower than anticipated” gas mains replacement works in Harrogate town centre.
The company said yesterday the scheme had proved “challenging” and would be temporarily halted to avoid Christmas disruption.
It means five weeks of traffic lights on Cold Bath Road, which were initially due to take place in September, won’t happen until at least January.
Northern Gas Networks, which transports gas to 2.7 million homes in northern England through a network of underground pipes, also said it had finished long-term work at Crescent Road, near the tourist information centre.
But it added it still needed to “make good” the area before traffic and pedestrian restrictions were lifted — hopefully this week.
Scott Kitchingman, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks said:
“Our gas mains replacement works in Harrogate town centre have progressed well, but it has been a challenging project to undertake due to the location of the main.
“The complexity of the engineering involved means the pace of the works has been slower than anticipated and that has extended their overall duration.
“We want to minimise disruption for Harrogate residents and motorists as much as possible, so rather than impact customers during the busy festive period by continuing the works now, we’ve temporarily paused the project and will return to complete it in the new year.”
Mr Kitchingman added the company’s customer care officers would keep residents and businesses updated with new dates “as soon as they are agreed with North Yorkshire County Council’s highways team”, adding:
“We sincerely apologise in the meantime for any inconvenience customers have experienced.”
Read more:
- Gasworks on Cold Bath Road rescheduled until Monday
- Harrogate road closure means 1.4-mile detour for walkers and cyclists
Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district update
The long-term gas works on Crescent Road In Harrogate town centre are due to be paused this week.
Motorists are still unable to turn left at the Parliament Street junction and traffic coming the opposite way on Ripon Road is unable to turn right but by next week the restrictions should have ended.
Roadworks near the Harrogate Town ground on Wetherby Road in Harrogate are due to end tomorrow.
According to North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map, two sets of traffic lights will be active on Skipton Road, between the Empress roundabout and King’s Road.
Traffic lights on the A59 York Road near the junction with the A658 in Knaresborough are due to remain in place until November 11.
Yorkshire Water has installed four-way traffic lights as it lays a new water main for a housing development.
In Ripon, roadworks are due to be active on Heckler Lane and New Road today and tomorrow.
Work to reconstruct the landslip-hit B6265 at Red Brae Bank, Bewerley, near Pateley Bridge, is ongoing.
The road is closed and a diversion is in place via Pateley Bridge; the B6451 Dacre; Menwith Hill Road; Duck Street and Greenhow Hill village. Temporary traffic lights will be in place during the remainder of the work.
Trains and buses
Rail operator Northern is not reporting any problems on the line passing through Harrogate and Knaresborough this morning but the live departure and arrival board for Harrogate shows the 7.37am LNER service to London is cancelled.
The Harrogate Bus Company is reporting cancellations on the 36 bus, the 9am and 10.55am Harrogate to Leeds services are cancelled, as are the Leeds to Harrogate 7.40am, 9.55am, 11.55am services and the Starbeck to Leeds 6.23am bus.
You can get updates here.
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