5 Years After Otley Road Cycleway Project Began, NYC Highways Brainstorms Ideas
North Yorkshire Council (NYC) Highways held a meeting last night to brainstorm ideas for how to use the £565,000 of Otley Road money they have left. It is more than five years since the Otley Road Cycleway project began.
They came with no specific proposals, and insisted that ‘it’s early days’. They received the funding in 2017.
The meeting was organised by Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association (HAPARA) and took place at the Green Hut on Harlow Avenue.
Otley Road Cycleway
NYC built what they call Phase 1 of the Otley Road Cycleway in late 2021. They then cancelled Phase 2 despite majority support for it in the most recent consultation.
They have not learned the most basic lesson that in order to be useful, cycle routes must join up.
Imaginary Alternative Route
NYC now claim that they are “looking at” at an alternative route for Otley Road Cycleway between Cold Bath Road and Beech Grove. There are no parallel side streets.
Sending people via Cold Bath Road would be a considerable detour. Cold Bath Road also carries 8,000 vehicles a day.
Cycling in mixed traffic is only acceptable up to 2,500 vehicles a day.
There isn’t space for dedicated cycle tracks on Cold Bath Road.
It’s impossible to escape the conclusion that NYC are wasting everyone’s time by pretending that they have an alternative route, when it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to work out that there is no viable alternative route.
They need to build Phase 2 of the Otley Road Cycleway.
General Proposals
NYC Highways suggested that they might use the £565,000 they have left from the original £4.275 million for:
- 20mph
- LTNs
- crossing points
- cycle signage
- bus corridor improvements
These are general ideas – they put forward no specific proposals.
Timetable: No On-the-Ground Improvements in 2023
NYC set out a timetable which involves letting the whole of 2023 slip by with no prospect of any on-the-ground improvements:
- July or August 2023 Local Area Committee meeting of Councillors
- August or September 2023 Executive meeting
- design work from Autumn 2023, with any on-the-ground work to be done by the end of March 2024 (if you believe it)
Next Steps
I can’t see any meaningful improvements being made by the current team.
NYC has floated the idea of setting up a dedicated team of active travel officers. If we had people who understood active travel and were determined to make on-the-ground improvements despite some opposition, we might get somewhere.
As things stand I have no hope.