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May 2021

Transport

£200,000 bid to make busy Harrogate junctions safer

Published: 6 May 2021, 15:23 BST

by Calvin Robinson

The funding would improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists at busy traffic light junctions on Wetherby Road and Leeds Road.

The traffic light junction at Wetherby Road and Railway Road, which the county council has earmarked for improvement.

Two of Harrogate's busiest junctions could undergo improvement work worth £200,000 to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

North Yorkshire County Council agreed today to bid for funding to improve the traffic lights at the junction of Wetherby Road and Railway Road, next to Sainsbury's, and at the junction of Leeds Road, Pannal Bank and Follifoot Road.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, approved the bid at a meeting this morning.

He said there were no designs for the junctions at this stage but the idea was to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

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The authority will bid to the Department for Transport, which has made £15 million funding available to councils for the maintenance of traffic lights.

Cllr Mackenzie said the bid was not a reflection of a lack of highways funding in the council’s budget.

He said:

“We get opportunities to bid for certain types of funding.

“We make a bid and we hope to receive that funding and that is the nature of some highways funding these days.”

A report before Cllr Mackenzie this morning said that the two junctions were key to the town and could “be improved significantly”.

It said the lights were running on “aged equipment” and needed to be modernised.

The report said:

“Both junctions are operating with aged equipment and technology that requires full refurbishment and upgrade improvements. As key junctions, the current performance is of some constraint to network performance and efficiency.

“Each site can be improved significantly not only in terms of traffic flow but also for pedestrian and cyclist facilities, particularly Railway Road that is one of the largest signalised junctions and does not have pedestrian crossing facilities.”

The county council expects to learn about the outcome of the bid at a later date.

It comes as the county council is pressing ahead with plans to improve cycling and walking in the town.

The authority has unveiled four proposals as part of its active travel scheme, including cycle lanes on Victoria Avenue and a 20 mile per hour zone on Oatlands Drive.

Other measures include the £7.9 million Station Gateway project, which could see James Street pedestrianised and one-lane traffic on Station Parade.

The joint plan by North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority seeks to encourage sustainable transport in the town centre.

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£200,000 bid to make busy Harrogate junctions safer

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