A week ago, traffic started flowing again on a road in Harrogate that had been blocked for 18 months.

Bogs Lane and Kingsley Road together form a horseshoe shape off the A59 Knaresborough Road. The bridge where they meet was closed to facilitate one of the many new housing developments in the area.

The route serves thousands of residents and is also used as a rat run or cut through to avoid the A59. Emergency vehicles travel along it when the barrier at Starbeck level crossing is down.

So are residents pleased to see the road fully back in use or did they prefer living in a quieter neighbourhood?

The Stray Ferret talked to residents this week and visited the site to speak to councillor Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley on North Yorkshire Council.

The road closure has ended.

Cllr Aldred said most residents he’d spoken to — particularly those in the new developments — appeared happy to have the full use of the road back.

When we met, a woman who lives in Barratt Homes’ Kingsley Meadows passed by and said she often drove to Knaresborough and unblocking the road had saved a lengthy detour.

Claire Mortimer, whose salon The Nail Garden is attached to her home in Kingsley, supported the re-opening. She said:

“The closure has been hard for my business as I have clients that travel far so it’s been annoying they’ve had to go the long way for so long.”

Kevin Francis agreed, saying he moved to the area in 2019 because of its “great links to other areas”, adding:

“Bogs Lane being closed has had a real impact on our day-to-day lives.

“Working to the east of Starbeck we had been shunted onto the High Street and spent many an hour clogging up the A59.”

Daniel Jefferson said the road “provides an important additional link around Starbeck”.

He added:

“Since the temporary closure of Bogs Lane I’ve felt like we’ve seen a significant increase in traffic congestion both exiting Kingsley Road and through Starbeck which I also believe has contributed in additional road traffic accidents occurring along these routes, significant increase emissions and congestion.”

‘More speeding cars’

But Nicola Woods is among those who have the opposite view. She said the reopening encouraged speeding motorists with little respect for the many cyclists and horse riders that used the road, adding:

“At times it is tricky getting in and out of my driveway which is again caused by the speed of some vehicles coming round the bend near Hillbank Road, I have had some near misses.

“The past few months whilst the road has been shut I have seen an increase in people walking and cycling down Bogs Lane. It will be interesting to see what affect the re-opening of the road has on this.”

Tim Redshaw said Bogs Lane was an unclassified road that could not sustain the increased volume of traffic. He said:

“Having lived in Starbeck most of my life l’ve seen how the traffic flows have changed, and the negative effects it’s creating. To keep building on the green belt land we till recently held so dear is a very big mistake.”

New footpath

The new footpath

The road re-opening is not the only change. New traffic lights have been installed near the entrance to Redrow’s Kingsley Manor development and a footpath has been created alongside it towards Bogs Lane to make walking safer.

Darren Long, whose family lives on Kingsley Road, said he didn’t understand why traffic from the Redrow site is now forced to turn right onto Kingsley Road.

“It’s a very odd decision. On a daily basis, we see residents turning around in the Barratts junction to go back over Bogs Lane way. It totally baffles me.”

Mr Long also called for traffic calming measures on Kingsley Road “as the speed of the traffic on here from some rat runners and residents is absolutely frightening”. He added:

“We’re regularly overlooked in this area and it’ll unfortunately take a fatality for the council to act on this I suspect.”

The road closed to allow Redrow to work on its Kingsley Manor development.

Cllr Aldred said the new footpath and road surface looked good but the old crumbling footpath across the bridge needed upgrading. He added:

“I’m going to ask for that to be done, as the new footpath makes it look terrible.  Highways also need to do something about the potholes on the approach from Kingsley Drive — they are awful.”

He added he suspected not everyone had realised yet the road had reopened, and the volume of traffic could increase in the weeks ahead.

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A bid to close Crescent Gardens road in Harrogate to the public looks set to clear its first hurdle next week.

North Yorkshire Council has recommended councillors approve an application to install bollards and planters at either end of the road to prevent public access.

The move would involve the loss of 35 public car parking bays and could also eventually lead to the closure of the pedestrian footpath on Crescent Gardens.

Impala Estates, which bought the former Harrogate Borough Council headquarters for £4 million in 2020, submitted plans to close the road to the public last year.

The firm was granted planning permission to convert the building into offices, a gym and a restaurant / bar, and to construct a two-storey roof-top extension in May 2022. However, work has yet to begin.

The public parking bays lost would be retained for the private use of businesses using the building.

A 12-page report by case officer Gerard Walsh to councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee recommends they approve the scheme when they meet on Tuesday, May 7.

The planning application would see the road running between Swan Road to the west and Montpellier Road to the east closed. Block paving would be installed on the road in front of the building to “form a clear pedestrian connection between the building and the Crescent Gardens park opposite”, the report said.

If approved, the Secretary of State for Transport could then issue a stopping up order extinguishing the public right of way.

The report said:

“Officers consider that the proposed development will have a minor positive impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area and no significant impact on the setting of nearby listed buildings.”

It added:

“The council’s highways team have no objection to the proposed development subject to proposed conditions requiring the submission of a bollard and access management plan, a construction phase management plan, and provision of a tactile pedestrian crossing at the junction of Crescent Gardens / Swan Road to improve the pedestrian facilities on the remaining highway.”

The view from the Swan Road junction.

The report said the loss of parking bays “is not a significant concern and would not warrant refusal, as there are sufficient alternative on-street parking facilities nearby, in addition to an abundance of available off-street parking options in the town centre”.

But Harrogate Civic Society, which lodged one of seven objections, said:

“Loss of public access to the parking spaces on the road would compound the previous loss of parking beside the Royal Hall.

“Crescent Gardens is important as a highway for two-way traffic to ease the passage of vehicles to Ripon Road and to and from Swan Road and the Duchy estate etc. The fact that a route other than Crescent Gardens exists is not a reason for stopping up this right of way.”

The planning committee will vote whether to accept Mr Walsh’s recommendation.

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A Harrogate road that has been closed to traffic for 18 months will reopen in less than two weeks.

Vehicles have been blocked from crossing the bridge where Kingsley Road meets Bogs Lane since November 2022.

By law, temporary road closures can only last for a maximum of 18 months, which means the route, off the busy A59 Knaresborough Road, will reopen on May 6.

North Yorkshire Council considered permanently closing the road — a move welcomed at the time by the local councillor who said it would end the “Kingsley rat run”.

But this option is no longer being pursued.

Barrie Mason, the council’s assistant director for highways and transport, said:

“The temporary closure of Kingsley Road and Bogs Lane will come to an end on Monday, May 6, once the resurfacing is completed and traffic signals go live.

“We will not be progressing the permanent road closure as part of the developer-funded works.”

The decision to reopen the road means it will once again be an alternative for emergency vehicles when the level crossing barriers are down at Starbeck on the A59.

A 12-month temporary prohibition of traffic order was issued from November 7, 2022, to enable developer Redrow to carry out work at its 133-home Kingsley Manor development.

North Yorkshire Council extended the order by six months in November last year to enable Barratt Homes, which built the nearby Kingsley Meadows development, to construct a footway along Bogs Lane to make the area safer for pedestrians.

Mr Mason said:

“The construction of a footway on Bogs Lane will conclude current developer obligations. This is due to be completed for the road reopening, subject to weather conditions.”

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