Motorists are set for another day of delays on the A61 Ripon Road in Killinghall today, with long queues already forming.
Traffic in both directions was horrendous yesterday due to traffic lights caused by workers digging up the grass verge near Ripley.
After some respite later in the day, another set of roadworks appeared in the middle of Killinghall at 8.30pm as workers began digging up the road despite the late hour.
Late night roadworks in the middle of the village.
Four-way lights were installed at the junction of Ripon Road and Otley Road.
This morning, queues are again in place, with Yorkshire Water due to carry out work on Ripon Road all week traffic lights back.
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Morning ‘traffic chaos’ on A61 between Ripon and Harrogate
Motorists have endured a morning of misery between Ripon and Harrogate this morning due to lengthy delays on the A61.
Roadworks at Bishop Monkton combined with a broken down bus in Killinghall caused a double delay for people using the main route.
Linda Birnie called the Stray Ferret to say it took her an hour and 10 minutes to get from her home in Ripon to Ripley. She said:
“The traffic this morning was absolutely appalling. I would have gone through Knaresborough if I’d known.”
Ms Birnie set off at 8am and shortly afterwards hit a two-mile queue caused by lights near the garden centre at Bishop Monkton.
According to North Yorkshire County Council’s live roadworks map, there are two-way signals there until Friday due to work being carried out by Yorkshire Water.
It always says there are separate roadworks at Wormald Green until Wednesday this week.
Ms Birnie said after getting through that queue, there was a brief period of respite before she encountered another large tailback before the Ripley roundabout due to a broken down bus in Killinghall.
She had travelled to Harrogate because she is a member of the Harrogate Borough Council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active and her yoga class had been moved because of ongoing work caused by ground stability issues at Ripon’s new leisure centre.
Other motorists got in touch to inform us of lengthy delays on the same route this morning.
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Traffic and Travel Alert: Harrogate district update
Here is this morning’s update on traffic and travel across the Harrogate district.
Spotted anything else? Email us the details and we’ll add it below to help others get around this morning.
Harrogate
The long-term gas works on Crescent Road In Harrogate town centre are due to be paused this week.
Motorists are still unable to turn left at the Parliament Street junction and traffic coming the opposite way on Ripon Road is unable to turn right but by next week the restrictions should have ended.
Roadworks near the Harrogate Town ground on Wetherby Road in Harrogate are due to end today.
According to North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map, two sets of traffic lights will be active on Skipton Road, between the Empress roundabout and King’s Road.
The top of Woodfield Road is also closed to traffic leaving Skipton Road, though open to vehicles leaving Woodfield onto Skipton Road. Those works are scheduled to end today.
Kingsley Drive remains closed between Birstwith Road and Rydal Road until November 6. There are also temporary traffic lights on Kingsley Road while work continues to create an access road to the new housing development.
Knaresborough
Traffic lights on the A59 York Road near the junction with the A658 in Knaresborough are due to remain in place until November 11.
Yorkshire Water has installed four-way traffic lights as it lays a new water main for a housing development.
Kirkgate Road in central Knaresborough is closed today for works to the kerbs.
Several sets of two-way traffic lights are in place along the A6055 Boroughbridge Road between Knaresborough and Minskip.
Branton Lane in Great Ouseburn is closed until next Friday while Yorkshire Water lays a new main.
Ripon and Nidderdale
In Ripon, roadworks are due to conclude on Heckler Lane and New Road today.
Stumps Lane in Darley is closed for another week for a sewer to be connected.
Work to reconstruct the landslip-hit B6265 at Red Brae Bank, Bewerley, near Pateley Bridge, is ongoing.
The road is closed and a diversion is in place via Pateley Bridge, the B6451 Dacre, Menwith Hill Road, Duck Street and Greenhow Hill village. Temporary traffic lights will be in place during the remainder of the work.
Fell Beck Bridge remains closed for works until November 6, with a diversion in place via Burnt Yates and Summerbridge.
Trains and buses
Rail operator Northern is not reporting any significant problems on the line passing through Harrogate and Knaresborough this morning but the live departure and arrival board for Harrogate shows the 7.09am Northern service to York is currently running seven minutes late.
The Harrogate Bus Company is not currently reporting any cancellations or significant delays on its services. You can get updates here.
An early warning for you: there are some changes to bus timetables on the horizon, taking effect from Sunday, November 6. Most of these are minor, but in a more significant change, the 36 will no longer offer ‘neighbourhood journeys’ from Bilton and Jennyfield to Leeds.
The bus company said this is down to low passenger numbers. Passengers can still get tickets through to Leeds if they start their journeys on the 2A, 2B or 3.
Check the full details on the Harrogate Bus Company website.
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A61 reopens between Ripley and Ripon after Land Rover fire
The A61 has reopened between Ripley and Ripon after a Land Rover caught fire.
Harrogate fire station tweeted about the incident just before 4pm today.
It added:
“The fire has been extinguished but road remains closed due to fuel spillage.”
North Yorkshire Police tweeted shortly after 5pm that the road had reopened.
Thank you for your patience – the A61 south of Ripon has now re-opened in both directions. https://t.co/xdaLIyE7Dg
— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) August 12, 2022
It had earlier warned that the surface was unsafe.
Anyone travelling north on the A61 towards Ripon is asked to come off on Moor Road into Bishop Monkton, then follow Knaresborough Road into Ripon.
The A61 is closed in both directions and is likely to remain so for some time, so please plan your journeys accordingly.
(2/2)
— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) August 12, 2022
Buses were also affected.
https://twitter.com/harrogatebus/status/1558109060712595456
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Plans submitted to add more bedrooms to Harrogate mental health hospital
A two-storey extension could provide additional bedrooms at the Cygnet Hospital on Ripon Road in Harrogate.
Plans have been submitted to add four en suite bedrooms along with two offices to the rear of the building, in addition to the existing 36 beds .
As a result, the mental health hospital would increase its overall floor space by 115.5m sq, bringing the total size of the four-storey building to 1692m sq.
Supporting information submitted with the plans said:
“The Cygnet Hospital Harrogate is a well managed establishment and provides an important function for the community.
“It is essential that this critical piece of healthcare infrastructure can continue to provide the bedspaces required to support the demands of the community and help reduce the national shortage of bedspaces.”
The hospital has two wards – one mixed gender and one female – which both provide 24-hour care for people with acute mental health needs. Patients are referred to Cygnet from both the NHS and private practices.
The plans propose installing a temporary fire escape from the first floor while the work is carried out, which would be removed on completion.
One extra car park space would be created in the grounds as a result of landscaping under the plans for the former hotel.
To view or comment on the application, visit Harrogate Borough Council’s planning website and use reference 22/02799/FUL.
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Four-mile queues as traffic chaos descends on Harrogate
Motorists are enduring misery on the roads in Harrogate today, with long delays on three of the main routes around town.
Wetherby Road, Skipton Road and Ripon Road have all been affected by incidents, bringing traffic to a standstill on the northern side of Harrogate.
Resurfacing outside the yet-to-open Leon drive-through close to the Woodlands junction is causing long delays in both directions on Wetherby Road and Hookstone Drive.
Resurfacing outside Leon
Traffic heading towards the Kestrel roundabout is backing up all the way from Leon to the Empress roundabout and all along Skipton Road to New Park roundabout – a distance of almost four miles.
The four-way traffic lights at the Woodlands junction, near the Leon site, brought tailbacks to Hornbeam Park.
Many vehicles were turning around in attempts to avoid the queues.
The fallen traffic lights.
The central reservation damaged by the traffic lights.
The situation was made worse this morning when a traffic light at the junction of Skipton Road and King’s Road, near Bilton Working Men’s Club, came crashing down.
That has now been removed but traffic was still queueing for miles in all directions when the Stray Ferret cycled around town at about midday today.
Queueing on Skipton Road
Motorists trying to avoid the delays on Skipton Road by heading into town on Ripon Road were hit by further roadworks outside Cygnet Hospital.
Roadworks on Ripon Road is adding to delays.
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Traffic and Travel Alert: Temporary Ripon Road lights causing Harrogate queues
Temporary traffic lights are causing delays on Ripon Road coming into Harrogate this morning.
Drivers are urged to avoid the area as the lights are causing queues.
The lights are in place just past Jennyfield Drive coming into Harrogate and have been installed by CityFibre as part of maintenance work.
According to North Yorkshire County Council, the lights will be in place until tomorrow.
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- Traffic order to discourage cars on two Knaresborough streets begins today
Approval finally granted to convert Harrogate’s Alexa House into home
A plan to convert a Victorian guest house in Harrogate into a family home has been approved.
Alexa House on Ripon Road was sold last year for an undisclosed sum by former owner Sandra Doherty.
Ms Doherty, who owned the property for 15 years, sold the bed and breakfast after she stepped down as chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce to retire to Northumberland.
Previous applications from Ms Doherty to convert the property were turned down.
She had previously had an application to convert the guest house into seven apartments rejected in January 2021 after Harrogate Borough Council said it would not “contribute to local distinctiveness”.
Read more:
Now, a fresh application to change the former guest house has been given the go-ahead by council officials.
The plan submitted by the Architect Design Studio Ltd on behalf of Laura Harvey includes converting the outbuildings at the property into a garage and workshop area and reducing the size of the car park.
Alexa House was built in 1896 by the renowned art collector Baron Conrad Adolphus du Bois de Ferrieres.
It was built as a hunting lodge for its London-based owners to spend time enjoying Harrogate’s spa waters and riding in the nearby countryside.
Traffic and Travel Alert: Traffic is queuing in Killinghall due to temporary lights outside the new TescoTraffic is reportedly queuing in Killinghall this morning due to the temporary lights outside of the new Tesco store in the centre of town.
Yorkshire Water is responsible for the works. It says they will be in place until the end of today.
Delays are currently around six minutes on Ripon Road, A61.
The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.
We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.
The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.
Plans have been submitted to convert a Victorian guest house in Harrogate into a family home.
The Alexa House on Ripon Road was sold last year for an undisclosed sum by former owner Sandra Doherty.
Mrs Doherty, who owned the property for 15 years, sold the bed and breakfast after she stepped down as chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce to retire to Northumberland.
She had previously had an application to convert the guest house into seven apartments rejected in January 2021 after Harrogate Borough Council said it would not “contribute to local distinctiveness”.
Now a fresh proposal has been tabled to the council to convert the guest house into a family home.
Read more:
The application by the Architect Design Studio Ltd on behalf of Laura Harvey includes converting the outbuildings at the property into a garage and workshop area and reducing the size of the car park.
Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.
Alexa House was built in 1896 by the renowned art collector Baron Conrad Adolphus du Bois de Ferrieres.
It was built as a hunting lodge for its London-based owners to spend time enjoying Harrogate’s spa waters and riding in the nearby countryside.