New crossings at Harrogate's key roads may boost cycling and walking amid traffic congestion
Cycling campaigners in Harrogate are hoping plans for new road crossings will bring a boost after 10 years of little progress in sustainable transport in the town.
As North Yorkshire Council conducts a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) consultation with the public over its plans for new crossings at Wetherby Road and Oatlands Drive to benefit people walking or cycling along Slingsby Walk, Harrogate District Cycle Action is asking members to make their voices heard.
After being established in 2023 as Harrogate Cycle Group, HDCA was formed in response to a request from the then Harrogate Borough Council for local cyclists to help and guide the council in building a cycle network.
The group points to a series of reversals over the last decade which have ensured that aspiration has turned out to be a total pipedream.
The group’s modus operandi is to work with, and lobby, local government to improve cycling infrastructure and promote cycling as a sustainable form of transport in Harrogate.
But, in HDCA’s view, North Yorkshire Council has been making promises of action on active travel for at least a decade now while actually achieving little.
Despite all the political froth and heat, the last meaningful improvement to Harrogate’s cycle network, they say, was the Yorkshire Showground Greenway in 2014.
There was negative progress in 2022 when the Beech Grove modal filters were removed.
Nothing was achieved in 2023, and 2024 was another year of failure with no on-the-ground improvements.
Even the much-delayed, much-vaunted Harrogate Gateway project has lost the majority of its sustainable transport aspects.
Under the latest proposals by North Yorkshire Council, the new Wetherby Road and Oatlands Drive crossings would be light-controlled.
Harrogate District Cycle Action is advising its members to mention in any response to the consultation that, to support pedestrians and cyclists, that the lights need to be set up to change to green quickly after the button is pressed.
Anyone wishing to support the new crossings is advised to email [email protected]
For more details on the new crossings , visit: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/traffic-regulation-orders
For more information on Harrogate District Cycle Action, visit: https://harrogatecycleaction.org.uk/