Harrogate Station Gateway Starts in 2027, Ends Autumn 2028

Work on the Harrogate Station Gateway will start in the new year. North Yorkshire Council appointed its contractor on Tuesday 27 October, and says the £13.4 million scheme should be finished in autumn 2028.

That is a year later than the council said last November. When councillors approved the contract then, it said work would begin in the new year and finish in autumn 2027 (council news, 18 November 2025).

The contractor is NY Highways, the council’s own highways company. It will build the scheme around Station Parade on the council’s behalf (council news, 27 October 2026).

What is being built

The council’s project page lists the work:

• new paving, step-free crossing points and better signal junctions on Lower Station Parade and Station Parade
• a southbound segregated cycle lane on Station Parade
• a new bus lane on Lower Station Parade
• improvements to the One Arch underpass
• a redesigned public space at Station Square
• cycle parking at Harrogate station

Station Parade keeps two traffic lanes. The council cut the scheme back to that after a legal challenge and rising costs, the same page says.

Traffic signals on the A61 will also be improved at two junctions: King’s Road with Ripon Road, and King’s Road with Cheltenham Parade (council news, 18 November 2025).

Why it starts after Christmas

Cllr Malcolm Taylor, the executive member for highways and transport, said the timing was chosen to protect trade.

“We are starting the work in the New Year to avoid impacting businesses over the busy trading period,” he said. He added that the scheme had been “almost six years in the pipeline”.

The council says it will hold drop-in sessions and visit businesses directly before and during the work. No dates for those sessions have been published yet.

Two of the biggest landlords on the route backed the scheme in the council’s announcement. Rushbond, the new owner of The Exchange, welcomed “the provision of substantial capital to improve the arrival experience”. Sheet Anchor Evolve, which runs the Victoria Shopping Centre, said it was “particularly excited about plans for Station Square”.

Who pays

The council’s announcement splits the £13.4 million three ways:

The officer decision signed the same day gives the West Yorkshire grant as £11,006,970. It records the York and North Yorkshire grant as cut from £2 million to £1.2 million, rather than the £1.35 million in the announcement. The decision says the scheme still sits within the budget approved last November, largely because the contract sum and the contingency were reduced.

Last November’s figure was £14.3 million. The decision was not open to call-in, because it carries out an Executive decision already taken.

The legal challenge

The scheme has survived two rounds in court. In March the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by A & E Baines Ltd, backed by the campaign group Get Away, against four traffic orders linked to the scheme. All three grounds were rejected (council news, 12 March 2026). The High Court had already ruled for the council in August 2025.

What it means for you

• Nothing changes on the road before Christmas. Station Parade stays as it is through the festive trading period. Our roadworks and travel page will carry the closures and diversions once the council publishes them.
• Expect almost two years of work around the station, from the new year to autumn 2028 if the timetable holds. It has slipped by a year once already.
• If you run a business on the route, the council says it will contact you. You can also email the project team at transformingcities@northyorks.gov.uk or sign up for project updates.
• The plans are public. The council’s project page carries the north, centre, south and One Arch drawings and the full business case.

For train times from the station itself, see our Harrogate to London trains page, and for car parks see parking in Harrogate.