Speed bumps approved for 'rat-run' Harrogate road set to get 700 homes

North Yorkshire County Council has approved the traffic calming measures for the Kingsley Drive area to prevent it being used by motorists who look to avoid standstill queues at Starbeck level crossing.

The plans were agreed by the council’s business and environmental services executive members on Friday, February 21 - despite objections from some residents.

In a report, one local said the speed bumps are “not the answer” because the area is already struggling with “bumper-to-bumper” traffic – even before the hundreds of new homes are built.

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Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, coun Don Mackenzie, executive member for transport, said the county council is looking to invest half-a-million pound to ease congestion at the crossing.

He said: “There has always been complaints about Kingsley Drive as it is much used as a rat run and this has been an opportunity to sort that issue.

"It is used by people wanting to avoid Starbeck level crossing, which can be closed for seven minutes when the barriers are down. This is an issue because whenever a train passes from Knaresborough or Harrogate, it has to close."

During a consultation, some residents claimed the speed bumps will be dangerous for cyclists and during icy conditions, but coun Mackenzie insisted the measures are safe.

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One Kingsley resident, who was listed as an objector in the council’s report, said: “When traffic is doing a cautious walking pace on packed down snow or sheet ice, you are imposing a minimum speed limit, not a maximum, by installing ramps. It takes a certain minimum amount of momentum to get over a ramp which dictates a minimum speed.

“Since the road is already extremely hazardous, even a ramp so small that it's pointless would be enough to make the road unnavigable.

“This imposed minimum speed limit will make it almost impossible to turn the corner safely and anyone who survives that will just get stuck on the ramp on the other side of the turning.”

Another resident said: “The council is aware traffic calming is not the answer to the issue on Kingsley Drive and additional roads. The volume of traffic before any more houses are built in our area is bumper to bumper.

“Calming scheme would only add to the frustration of drivers and residents.”

Concerns were also raised over poor parking on the street, leaving the narrow roads reduced to a single lane.

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The speed bumps will be installed at Kingsley Drive’s junctions with Birstwith Road, Leyland Road and Rydal Road – and are a result of planning conditions by Harrogate Borough Council associated with Stonebridge Homes’ development off Kingsley Road.

Having set up the Kingsley Ward Action Group last year, residents have complained over the amount of heavy lorries using the narrow residential streets, mud on the roads and temporary closures, which has led to three enforcement orders being drawn up by the borough council.

Barratt Homes and Persimmon are the other two house-builders which have been working in the area for more than a year, and the three companies previously said they had been working together to keep the roads clean and disruption to a minimum.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter