Otley Road Cycleway Phase 1 Review: Towards a Complete Route Linked into a Network
We are pleased the Otley Road Cycleway project has started, and we hope it will now gather momentum and pace.
Beech Grove
We hope work will proceed as soon as possible to link it to Beech Grove in the east.
Cardale Park
Similarly, we would like to see the western extension to Cardale Park be delivered very soon.
New Housing at Bluecoat Wood and Windmill Farm
The leader of North Yorkshire County Council Carl Les wrote a Statement of Support at the start of the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Action Plan.
The Climate Action Plan supported by the Council Leader includes these elements:
- enable active travel through 20-minute neighbourhoods and the delivery of ambitious, joined up plans for walking and cycling (Action 39)
- minimise the need for private car ownership by promoting compact, mixed use and transit-oriented development, and active and public transport (Action 40)
The proposed developments beyond Harlow Carr will be rather too far from Harrogate town centre for walking, but within easy reach by bike or e-bike.
If North Yorkshire’s commitment to the Climate Action Plan is sincere, we should be pushing at an open door in asking that the Otley Road Cycleway be extended to the Bluecoat Wood/Windmill Farm developments at the time that they are built.
The space is there to create a proper cycleway, separate from the footway. The opportunity is there to meet the minimum standards in the guidance, rather than building a substandard effort compromised by lack of space, an inadequate budget, and the prioritisation of motor vehicles at all costs.
Otherwise, we know what happens. Developers build junctions for cars, taking all the space, and making it difficult retrofit cycle infrastructure. If they are required to pay a s.106 contribution, it is collected years after the development is built, and it transpires that it is not enough money to do anything meaningful.
So far, officers have refused to give any commitment to extending the cycleway to these developments. They have told us that:
- building junctions for cars at the new developments, but
- building no cycle infrastructure
amounts to ‘balancing the interests of different road users’.
That is nonsensical.
Will North Yorkshire please live up to its words on climate and active travel, and commit to extending the Otley Road Cycleway to these developments before, or at the latest when, they are built?
Agree with the analysis – what a mess and waste of money
Hi Imran,
Thanks for the comment. It’s just disappointing that the design is so poor and car-focused.
If the other sections can be built to a better design, including a cycle track out to new housing beyond Harlow Carr, it could still end up as a useful route.
Totally agree, well done for the analysis.
Fundamentally it seems to me that NYCC do not see cyclists as commuters on a valid form of transport, simply as leisure riders prepared to dawdle over journeys on a sunny weekend. Their refusal to even cycle the route says it all
On a purely practical level, surely they should see their mish-mash of styles and inconveniences to cyclists and pedestrians as unsatisfactory ?
No doubt NYCC will be hailing their ‘progess’ as proof of green ambitions, when it could have been so much more. We all need to keep pushing.
I agree. Let’s hope the next phase can be built to a better design.
Have taken a ride round on my trike this morning – starting from Harlow Moor Road shared cycle path. Generally agree with the comprehensive analysis. Pointing out though that the Cyclists Dismount sign before Harlow Chase has been taken down – perhaps because I pointed out the equality implications for inclusive cycling. Will be tweeting this and other points with photos as seems to be no way of including here.
The traffic lights for the left and right turning lanes on Otley Road, at the Harlow Moor Road junction, could surely have been used to allow traffic going straight-on to continue and for cyclist to cross Harlow Moor Road at the same time? It was practically impossible for me to reach the Toucan crossing button when waiting to cross northwards there given that I cannot stand and manipulate my trike. Again an equality failure.
I walked along Otley Road several times during November, December and January as construction was taking place. I started off feeling optimistic that at last we were going to get the long awaited Cycleway, but then optimism turned to pessimism as the construction progressed and I saw more and more improvements taking place to the road, with little evidence of new cycle paths on either side. Your excellent analysis of the end result confirms my feelings. I doubt if I will be using the new Cycleway, as cycling on Otley Road will be much quicker especially when the shared pavements in the vicinity of Harrogate Grammar School are overcrowded with pupils at the start and end of the school day.
When I attended public meetings in Harrogate Grammar School 4 years ago, and discussed the plans with councillors, I was aware the Cycleway was going to be a mixture of cycle lanes and shared usage pavements, but I was under the impression we were going to have something much better than what has been delivered: something that would look like a cycle path! I feel that the funding has been used primarily to improve Otley Road for motor vehicles by widening various junctions, and improving road surfaces, and by getting cyclists out of the way. What has been delivered for cyclists is completely substandard and inadequate as your analysis shows. Have NYCC used the funding exactly as planned, or have their plans been modified once the funding was obtained? Dare I ask: has funding been misappropriated?
I know this is just Phase 1, and we are being urged to reserve judgement until the full Cycleway route is completed, but sadly I have no confidence NYCC will deliver anything better in later phases unless they are called to account over the delivery of Phase 1, which seems to break all of the Cycle Infrastucture Design Guidelines.
Hi Eric, Thanks for your comment. I agree the key thing now is to learn lessons so as to build to a better design in future phases.