Multi-million-pound overhaul of major motorway junction near Harrogate to start in July

North Yorkshire County Council has approved a plan to upgrade Junction 47 with traffic signals and widened slip roads.

The original estimated cost of the project was £5.03million, but it has now risen to £7.7million.

Coun Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said the junction upgrades are needed so it can cope with growing traffic levels from the thousands of homes being built in the area.

"The impact of the Local Plan which Harrogate Borough Council has now adopted has put a lot of pressure on the A59 corridor," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We have got the Flaxby Green Business Park plans, thousands of homes being built near Knaresborough, a planning application for Haxby Golf Club and the 3,000 homes major expansion near Green Hammerton - that is why it is so important."

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The junction also connects with the A59 - and an extra traffic lane will be built near the Flaxby roundabout.

Traffic signals will also be installed at the junction which connects the A59 and A168.

The plans were approved by the council's chief executive at a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

It is hoped the project will be completed by March 2021.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter

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