More delays for Harrogate’s active travel schemes
and live on Freeview channel 276
North Yorkshire County Council won £1 million for cycling and walking improvements on Oatlands Drive, Victoria Avenue and the A59 near Knaresborough in November 2020, but final designs have yet to be revealed as part of more consultations.
The council previously said that designs for the Victoria Avenue and A59 schemes – which include cycle lanes, improved crossings and reduced speed limits – were “likely” to be revealed this summer.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHowever, this has now been pushed back until at least the New Year.
![Harrogate's Oatlands Drive is one of several streets where improvement works have yet to start](https://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOmQ4M2IwMmNhLTZlMDAtNGFlZC1hYTAyLWVmODBhNmE0MzQwZjo2NzMxY2M2YS0yZTFmLTQyZDItOGU4Ni0zMTFhZDA3NWNhMzU=.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Harrogate's Oatlands Drive is one of several streets where improvement works have yet to start](/img/placeholder.png)
And for the Oatlands Drive plans, the council previously said a consultation was “likely to start soon after” Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend in June.
Three months on, the council says it now hopes to ask the public for their views from the start of October.
This comes after original plans for a one-way traffic system on Oatlands Drive were scrapped after a backlash from residents who warned the changes would be “disastrous”.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt was later agreed that the funding would instead be used for a feasibility study looking into improvements for the wider area.
Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at the council, said in a statement this week: “We are still in the detailed design stage for active travel schemes on Victoria Avenue and the A59 near Knaresborough.
“Following discussions and guidance from Active Travel England we would like to amend the designs further for improved pedestrian and cycling use.
“A public consultation with final designs is likely to take place in the New Year.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“The study of Oatlands Drive will review the existing designs and prepare new ones, based on the data we collect, to give us some options for active travel and traffic calming improvements in the Oatlands area that could be trialled.
“We hope to launch the public consultation at the start of October.”
The latest delays come on top of several setbacks for Harrogate’s Otley Road cycle path project which was first awarded funding in 2017. A first phase of the project was completed earlier this year, but a start date for phase two remains unclear.
There have also been setbacks for the town’s £11.2 million Gateway project which has been hit by a legal threat from a leading property company.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHornbeam Park Developments made a proposed claim for a judicial review against the council earlier this year over claims that it “failed conscientiously” to take into account the feedback of a previous survey.
This sparked the launch of yet another consultation which was held in summer and gathered over 2,000 responses ahead of a council decision over whether to submit a final business case for funding.
Elsewhere, plans for a 7km cycleway in Knaresborough and other active travel improvements in Ripon were shelved altogether in the summer when a council bid for £1.5 million was rejected by government.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.