Lane signs introduced at Leeds Road junction to ease traffic nightmare

The county council has introduced lane designation signs at the Leeds Road junction in a bid ease congestion problems.
New road signs (s)New road signs (s)
New road signs (s)

The signs have been placed at the junction with Leadhall Lane and Hookstone Road on the north and southbound approaches to help drivers ensure they are in the correct lane.

North Yorkshire County Council said they introduced the signs following a request from Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce for drivers approaching the junction.

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Coun Don Mackenzie, executive member for Highways said: "“Drivers seem to believe one lane has priority over the other as they merge, but that is not the case.

"We continue to address issues of congestion, and we hope these signs will encourage drivers to get into the correct lane early and to be courteous to one another and merge in turn from both of the lanes going straight ahead at the junction.

"This system requires drivers to merge alternately from each lane. The key is to get as many cars over the stop line on each green phase as possible and that is achieved by both straight ahead lanes being full and then cars merging alternately once across the junction.”

The current road layout was installed as part of the Marks and Spencer’s development on the former Nidd Vale Motors site on Leeds Road.

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However, following a series of long-running congestion complaints, the county council introduced a series of changes last autumn in an attempt to find a solution.

There were introduced after taking account of technical analysis and views of road users. The county council say they are continuing to monitor the new junction layout