Harrogate's Active Travel Fund projects on Victoria Avenue and the
A59 Knaresborough Road should have been completed by 31st March 2022,
but no work has started. What has happened to them?
In the last couple of days there has been anonymous briefing against
Harrogate Station Gateway - an £11 million project to improve
Harrogate town centre. This is after it has already been improved. The
project can't be derailed at this stage.
North Yorkshire's bid for money from the third tranche of the Active
Travel Fund (ATF3) has failed. What are the likely reasons behind the
DfT's decision to send the cash elsewhere?
What do the local elections that took place on 5th May 2022 mean for
cycling in Harrogate? I don't know, but I think I've written an
informative article on the subject anyway.
The National Planning Policy Framework says that housing developments
should give priority to active travel, but does Persimmon's King Edwin
Park estate in Harrogate do that?
I noticed someone's interpretation of this crossing facility and
cycle path today. If the designer expects you to do something daft and
inconvenient, do you do it, or do you ignore them?
Destination Harrogate is an organisation that promotes Harrogate
District as a destination for visitors.
What proportion of the District's economy relies on visitors? What
are the priorities in improving Harrogate's appeal, and where does the
Nidderdale Greenway fit in?
Are you on the look-out for a unique and eco-friendly Christmas
present for someone? reCycled gifts are made from bicycle parts that
are no longer needed.
A consultation on detailed designs for Harrogate Station Gateway gets
under way today. The plans are broadly excellent, but there a few
disappointments too.
Widening of Otley
Road at Harlow Moor Road junction
Government guidance says cycle tracks should be created by
reallocating space from motor vehicles. At the junction of Otley Road
and Harlow Moor Road, motor vehicles are getting a lot more space. How
much is left for pedestrians and cyclists?
End of
cycle pavement at Trinity Fields housing development
In theory, new housing development is an opportunity for new and
improved cycle infrastructure. In practice, developers provide a few
bits of joke cycle non-infrastructure.
The metal barrier on Rossett Drive is inconvenient on a normal bike,
and blocks access altogether to non-standard cycles. It's also illegal
under the Equality Act 2010. You'd think it would be removed.
The Otley Road Cycleway project has gone from serial missed deadlines
to a new strategy of providing no timetable at all. Is the new tactic
an improvement on the old, or just as bad but in a different way?
Moord Strookje, or
killing lane, on Oatlands Drive
North Yorkshire has abandoned its plans to make walking and cycling
safer on Oatlands Drive, without even going through with its own
planned consultation.
The representatives of Harrogate's business groups are focused on
'cars, cars, cars', but is this compatible with the changes we need to
make to avoid climate breakdown?
An update on the Otley Road Cycleway - not actual work starting, of
course, but news on the Stray land exchange and Northern Powergrid's
timetable for moving their services.
HAPARA, the Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents' Association, has
produced a report which is supposed to be about sustainable
development. Unfortunately, it dismisses cycling as a solution to
transport problems, and calls for road-building.
The sub-standard painted cycle lanes on Oatlands Drive could be
replaced with proper protected cycle tracks if the county council
succeeds in its bid for funding.
After missing out on half its Tranche 1 bid for Emergency Active
Travel Fund money, North Yorkshire County Council is to consult
community groups over its Tranche 2 bid for £1,065,000.
Chris Batley wrote to the Yorkshire Post objecting to positive
plans for the town centre. I set out the reasons why I don't agree,
and why his arguments don't reflect the facts.
North Yorkshire County Council is so far failing in its active
travel response to the Coronavirus. Widening pavements in a handful
of locations for a single weekend makes no sense when the
virus can be transmitted on any day of the week.
Harrogate District Cycle Action is today launching its new website,
alongside an updated manifesto and refreshed social media accounts.
The website invites local people to sign up as supporters and
contribute their ideas.
What is this
for?...mystery 'cycle infra' at Bellway Pannal development
Can anyone guess the purpose of this 12m long cycle path? It's by
the roundabout at the Bellway housing development, on the old
Dunlopillo site, but it doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
The bid is for a share of the Transforming Cities Fund, which is
money to make it easier, safer and quicker for people to travel and
get to work, by improving transport connections across city regions.
If the bid is successful, part of the money is to be spent in
Harrogate to improve the front of the station, and create better
access for pedestrians and cyclists. It will also be spent on
improved facilities for walking and cycling in the town centre, and
improving public spaces in town.
The bid should be submitted on 28th November 2019.
In a letter to the Yorkshire Post, Bishop Monkton Councillor Brown
claims that 'motorists' are being knocked and made to feel unwelcome
in Harrogate Borough. This is a response to some of his arguments.
A survey by the local MP, to find out what local shoppers think of
the town centre, shows how people get there and what they think of
the cycle facilities.
NYCC published the results of their congestion study, and the
answer from Harrogate and Knaresborough was a resounding 'no' to the
so-called relief road.