New traffic chaos on Harrogate's most congested road as digging begins again

One motorist reported taking one hour to get all the way along Skipton Road to the Empress roundabout from New Park.

Workers have returned to dig up a short stretch of the A59 near Grove Road, the same stretch which was the subject of digging earlier this year.

Once again the culprit is essential utility work involving Northern Powergrid which is scheduled to last until Sunday, May 18.

Two things seem to have made the situation worse.

The necessity of introducing a four-way temporary traffic light system where Dragon Road meets Skipton Road.

Unrelated highway repair and maintenance work by North Yorkshire Council’s highways department taking place in the Coppice Drive area.

For drivers in Harrogate there seems to be no end in sight for the town’s ‘annus horribilis’ of road works, road closures, dust, dirt, diversions and temporary traffic lights.

Work is still on-going in several parts of Harrogate, including Victoria Avenue where progress on a Pedestrian Improvement Scheme by North Yorkshire Council is ongoing.

That work involves changes to parking bays and zebra crossings and installing a new bus stop on the north side of the road near West Park United Reformed Church.

The redevelopment on Victoria Avenue will also involve the loss of 16 parking spaces.

Between a road system bristling with potholes and eroded surfaces and new housing developments, Harrogate’s traffic woes look set to continue.