The council has sorted 17 Harrogate cycling corridors by timeframe, and 10 are long term, including Oatlands Drive. Delivery depends on finding funding.
North Yorkshire Council has approved a list of cycling priorities that puts only three of Harrogate’s 17 corridors in its short-term group. Ten are long term, which the council defines as typically more than five years away.
The Corporate Director of Environment approved the list on 28 October. It takes effect on 6 November unless it is called in, and the record showed no call-ins when we read it on 5 November.
None of this pays for a new cycle lane. The report says schemes will only be delivered once funding is found, and that the timeframes are “heavily dependent” on that money. For now the only cost to the council is officer time.
Harrogate’s 17 corridors
The published list gives each corridor a timeframe and a cost band, but no figures.
| Timeframe | Corridor | Cost band |
|---|---|---|
| Short | Otley Road remainder, west of phase 1 | Medium |
| Short | Station Gateway | High |
| Short | NPIF sustainable transport package | N/A |
| Medium | A59, Starbeck level crossing to Empress Roundabout | High |
| Medium | A59, Forest Lane Head to Starbeck level crossing | High |
| Medium | East Parade, including Dragon Parade and Dragon Road | Medium |
| Medium | Skipton Road A59 | High |
| Long | Pannal Ash Road | High |
| Long | Victoria Avenue | High |
| Long | Hookstone Drive | High |
| Long | Ripon Road, Jennyfield Drive to Parliament Street | High |
| Long | Hookstone Road | High |
| Long | Hornbeam Park Avenue | High |
| Long | Jennyfield Drive | High |
| Long | Beckwith Road | N/A |
| Long | Wetherby Road | High |
| Long | Oatlands Drive | N/A |
One of the three short-term entries already has its money. The £13.4m Station Gateway is due to start in the New Year, the council said on 27 October.
Knaresborough’s six corridors
Knaresborough, about three miles east of Harrogate, has its own six entries:
- Short term: A59 missing link
- Medium term: King James Road
- Long term: Railway Path, B6164 Grimbald Crag Way, Chain Lane, and the A59 York Road from Chain Lane to the roundabout
Ripon has no entries. The exercise covered the earlier cycling and walking plans, for Harrogate, Scarborough, Selby, Tadcaster, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Skipton, Malton and Norton, and Northallerton.
How the list was made
Officers scored each route against 16 criteria, including forecast cycle trips, road safety, schools and how hard it would be to build. Councillors, local cycling groups, schools and hospitals were then asked for their views.
The scores did not settle it alone. The report says the final list also weighed local knowledge and likely funding. It also calls the list a “live document”, so routes can move up or down.
What it means for you
- If you cycle on one of these roads, this shows where the council will look first when funding appears. It does not mean work is planned.
- If you live on a listed road, nothing has been designed yet. Any scheme would still need a feasibility study and detailed design.
- To see the routes, the council has published the list and a map on the decision page.
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