North Yorkshire Council has delayed traffic-calming measures on Green Lane, Pannal Ash Road, Yew Tree Lane and Beckwith Road indefinitely.
The traffic calming was to be part of a wider 20mph zone promised to residents and Councillors in September 2023.
Some streets were due to be traffic-calmed using the remnants of North Yorkshire’s National Productivity Infrastructure Fund (NPIF) money. They include Cold Bath Road and Beech Grove.
Other streets were to be given traffic calming as part of the council’s 2024/25 capital budget. They included Pannal Ash Road, Green Lane and Yew Tree Lane.
Broken Promise
Now North Yorkshire have sent letters to residents on Green Lane and Pannal Ash Road, explaining that they intend to break the promise they made to residents, schools and Councillors to install traffic calming measures.
Resurfacing of these roads will go ahead, and traffic calming has been delayed indefinitely pending “further detailed review”.
The Letters
There is a letter to Green Lane residents and a letter to Pannal Ash Road residents.
Residents had previously been contacted about proposed traffic calming measures in May 2024. Their responses showed:
- 83% in favour of traffic calming on Green Lane and 17% against
- 61% in favour of traffic calming on Pannal Ash Road and 39% against
The work was due to be carried out in Summer 2024, during the school holidays. The council did not do that, and has postponed resurfacing work until October 2024 (Pannal Ash Road) and November 2024 (Green Lane).
North Yorkshire refuses to put in traffic calming at the same time, despite promising to do so and strong resident support for it.
The excuse is:
‘Whilst there is generally broad support for the introduction of the speed cushions, officers consider that further detailed review of future measures associated with [the West Harrogate urban expansion] and their impact upon the current scheme proposals needs to be undertaken.
Traffic calming schemes are also being assessed and designed for Yew Tree Lane and Beckwith Road (which already has traffic calming measures but where speeds remain too high for a 20mph speed limit)’.
The letters continue:
‘Accordingly, a decision has been taken to set aside the current proposal to install speed cushions at both Pannal Ash Road and Green Lane, which allows instructions to be issued to the contractor awarded the tender for the resurfacing schemes to proceed…
The proposed 20mph speed limit proposals for south Harrogate will therefore be brought forward in two phases, the first phase on streets where traffic calming measures are not required.
Once we have revised proposals for new/additional traffic calming measures on Pannal Ash Road, Green Lane, Yew Tree Lane and Beckwith Road, we will consult upon both the traffic calming measures and an extension of the 20mph speed limits as part of Phase 2 of the project’.
The excuse for refusing to go ahead with 20mph and traffic calming is pathetic – it makes no sense at all.
Splitting projects into phases is a classic cynical North Yorkshire delaying tactic. “Phase 2” can then be abandoned once the heat has gone out of the situation, and council officers have made everyone lose the will to live.
That is exactly what we saw with Otley Road Cycleway.
Failure to Inform Councillors
It does not appear that local Councillors have been consulted about refusing to put in the traffic calming. Melisa Burnham could have told the Area Committee meeting about the council’s plans in her Active Travel Update at a meeting on 12th September 2024, but she did not do so.
Council officers are just doing whatever they want, withholding information from Councillors, and treating them with contempt.
The final kick in the teeth is the council refusing even to provide an “indicative timetable”:
‘Whilst I don’t have an indicative timescale at present for consulting upon revised traffic calming designs and phase 2 of the 20mph speed limit programme, I will ensure further updates are communicated at the earliest opportunity’.