The new A59 Kex Gill route took its first traffic on 22 July and fully opens this summer. Live closures, A1 resurfacing at Ripon, parking prices and buses.

Getting around Harrogate this summer means knowing about two big schemes: the A59 at Kex Gill, where traffic has just moved onto the new road, and the A1 resurfacing north of Boroughbridge. Add the Station Gateway works queued up for the town centre and it pays to check before you drive. This page covers what is live now, where to check today’s closures, and the evergreen practical stuff: the key routes, what parking actually costs, and the buses.

Check today’s closures first

North Yorkshire Council publishes a live roadworks map covering council and utility works across the county, powered by one.network. The council’s own caveat applies: it relies on utility companies keeping their entries up to date, so treat it as a strong guide rather than gospel. For motorway and trunk-road works, use National Highways’ Yorkshire schemes page.

A59 Kex Gill: the new road is nearly done

The biggest road project in North Yorkshire for decades is the realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill, the moorland pass between Harrogate and Skipton that has slipped 15 times since 2000, costing more than £6 million in repairs (North Yorkshire Council). The council puts the baseline cost of the replacement road at £68.8 million, £56.1 million of it from the Department for Transport (scheme page).

Where it stands now: drivers began using part of the new route on 22 July 2026, with temporary lights in place while contractors finish the tie-ins, as reported by Your Harrogate. A wet spring pushed the full opening past the council’s mid-summer target, so expect evening closures and temporary lights at Blubberhouses while the final surfacing is completed (Your Skipton). Nearby, the Church Hill junction with the A59 closed for about eight weeks from early July, so that restriction runs into late August (council news, May 2026).

What it means for you: the Skipton run is usable but not yet clean. Allow a few extra minutes for the lights, and avoid planning around Church Hill until the tie-in works finish.

A1 northbound: resurfacing from Ripon to mid August

National Highways is resurfacing the A1 northbound between junction 50 (Ripon) and junction 52 (Catterick), with works running from late May to mid August 2026 (National Highways). If you head north from Ripon or Boroughbridge, check before travelling until this one wraps up. The same programme resurfaced the southbound side between Boroughbridge (J48) and Wetherby (J46) in June, so that stretch is done.

Station Gateway: town-centre works are coming

The long-argued Harrogate Station Gateway scheme is going ahead, in its scaled-back form. The original plans were revised in 2024 to keep Station Parade at two traffic lanes and to drop the pedestrianisation of James Street (council news, July 2024). In November 2025 the council signed the construction contract and funding agreements for the £14.3 million project, which covers the redevelopment of One Arch and Station Square, improved traffic signals, a bus lane, a southbound cycle lane on Station Parade, new paving and cycle parking at the station, with work “set to begin in the New Year” (council news, November 2025). The council’s project page still lists the construction start as to be confirmed, so watch for traffic management around Station Parade once it begins.

The key routes, for orientation

  • A61: the north-south spine, Ripon Road in from the north, Leeds Road out to the south.
  • A59: the east-west route, to York past the A1(M) one way and over Kex Gill to Skipton the other.
  • A661 Wetherby Road: the south-eastern approach, and the busiest way to the A1(M) southbound.
  • A1(M) junctions: J47 (Flaxby) is the Harrogate and Knaresborough junction, upgraded with extra lanes and signals in 2022 (Harrogate Informer); J48 serves Boroughbridge and J50 Ripon (National Highways).

There is no park and ride in Harrogate: the council’s park and ride page lists services only in Scarborough and Whitby.

What parking actually costs

On-street parking in central Harrogate is charged 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays, in two zones: the inner zone runs from £1.30 for 30 minutes to £7.10 for the 3-hour maximum, the outer zone from £1 to £6.10 (council street parking page). You can pay by phone with the AppyParking app across the town centre.

The council’s Dragon Road car park (HG1 5DB, by the Convention Centre) is the value option for longer stays: £3.80 for 4 hours, £7.10 for 12 hours, £1.40 for evenings after 6pm, with 76 spaces, 10 EV points and free parking for blue badge holders and motorcycles. It sometimes closes for Convention Centre exhibitions, so have a fallback on event days (car park page). At the railway station there are 117 spaces including 6 accessible bays (National Rail); it fills on weekday mornings, and the train times page covers the services they feed.

What parking costs in central Harrogate, August 2026 Horizontal bar chart of council parking charges. On-street inner zone, 3 hour maximum, 7 pounds 10. On-street outer zone, 3 hours, 6 pounds 10. Dragon Road car park, 4 hours, 3 pounds 80. Dragon Road, 12 hours, 7 pounds 10. Dragon Road evening after 6pm, 1 pound 40. Source: North Yorkshire Council tariff pages. What parking costs in central Harrogate North Yorkshire Council tariffs, August 2026 On-street inner, 3 hrs £7.10 On-street outer, 3 hrs £6.10 Dragon Road, 4 hrs £3.80 Dragon Road, 12 hrs £7.10 Dragon Road, evening £1.40 Twelve hours off-street costs the same as three hours on-street in the inner zone
Council parking tariffs compared. For anything over a couple of hours, Dragon Road beats the meters comfortably.

Buses: the 36 and the local network

Harrogate’s buses are run by Transdev as The Harrogate Bus Company. The flagship is the 36, running Ripon to Harrogate to Leeds roughly every 10 to 15 minutes through the daytime, with evening journeys past 11pm, calling at Ripley, Killinghall and Harewood along the way (route 36 timetable). Around town, the 1A, 1B and 1C shuttle between Harrogate and Knaresborough, the 7 runs to Wetherby and Leeds, the 24 serves Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale, and the 59 DalesBus crosses to Skipton. Several of the places in our things to do in Harrogate page, including RHS Harlow Carr and Ripley, are reachable on these routes.

Frequently asked questions

What roadworks are happening in Harrogate right now?

The two big ones in August 2026 are the final works on the A59 Kex Gill realignment (temporary lights at Blubberhouses, Church Hill junction closed into late August) and A1 northbound resurfacing between Ripon and Catterick until mid August. For street-level works, check the council’s live roadworks map.

Has the new Kex Gill road opened?

Partly. Traffic started using part of the new A59 route on 22 July 2026, with temporary lights while the tie-ins are finished. Full opening is due later this summer after weather delays.

Is the Harrogate Station Gateway happening?

Yes, in scaled-back form: Station Parade keeps two traffic lanes and James Street is not being pedestrianised. The council signed the £14.3 million construction contract in November 2025 and said work was set to begin in the new year; the start date on its project page is still listed as to be confirmed.

Where is the cheapest parking in Harrogate town centre?

The council’s Dragon Road car park: £3.80 for 4 hours or £7.10 for 12, against £7.10 for just 3 hours at an inner-zone street meter. Evenings after 6pm are £1.40. It occasionally closes for Convention Centre events.

Does Harrogate have a park and ride?

No. North Yorkshire Council runs park and ride only in Scarborough and Whitby. The nearest thing Harrogate has is the frequent 36 bus corridor from Ripon and Ripley into town.

Sources

Roadworks move weekly. The schemes above were checked in August 2026; use the council’s live map and National Highways’ pages for today’s picture.