North Yorkshire Council (NYC) appears to be intent on ignoring advice from Active Travel England (ATE) on the design standards for Phase 3 of Otley Road Cycleway.
Phase 3 is the western end of the proposed Otley Road Cycleway. It is to run between new housing developments at H49, H45 and H46 and the Otley Road junction with Harlow Moor Road.
It is shown on this map.
ATE has advised NYC that shared use should be regarded as a last resort and:
‘is unlikely to see an uptick in active travel when considering the planned large scale residential development to the west of the scheme…’
ATE says that a separate footway and cycle track option should be pursued.
NYC are refusing to do so, due to ‘constraints on the adopted network’. They say:
‘Because of constraints on the adopted network it will be shared use. Design work within the developer controlled land (H49) and linkages into adjoining developer sites still ongoing, but aiming for segregated use’.
Western End of Phase 3
NYC and the developers carried out feasibility studies for Phase 3 of the cycleway.
The western end of the cycleway is shown as segregated – with a footway (in blue) and separate cycle track (in green). These facilities appear to be on the developers’ land.
This part of the design goes from the housing developments past the Beckwith Head Road/Crag Lane junction to the Pine Marten pub.
This is the feasibility study design.
Shared Use East of the Pine Marten
East of the Pine Marten, there are two feasibility study designs – shared use and segregated. Here are:
- the feasibility study design for shared use between the Pine Marten and Harlow Moor Road and
- ATE’s assessment of the design using their Route Check Tool
The Route Check Tool rates the existing and proposed provision for walking, wheeling and cycling according to a scale of Critical Issue (C), Red (0), Amber (1) and Green (2).
Current cycling provision on Otley Road (on the carriageway with traffic) is rated as C, Critical Issue – ‘cyclists are not protected in traffic lanes between 3.25 and 3.9m wide’.
Another Critical Issue is uncontrolled crossings of the very busy Otley Road. That continues to rate C in the feasibility study design.
The Route Check Tool score for the shared use design represents a small improvement on the existing layout – from 32% to 46%.
Segregated Provision East of the Pine Marten
As mentioned above, there is also a feasibility study design for segregated provision (which NYC is refusing to pursue to detailed design stage).
Here are:
- the feasibility study design for segregated provision between the Pine Marten and the Harlow Moor Road junction and
- ATE’s assessment of the design using their Route Check Tool
The segregated provision scores 52% on ATE’s Route Check Tool.
ATE’s Overall Comments
ATE’s overall comments, which are partly cut off from the Route Check Tool due to the size of the text box are:
‘The two design options present critical issues for those choosing active travel and could be improved by considering the following:
Side road priority. Continuous cycle track and footway at side roads is important to allow active travel users to cross the minor arms of junctions in a safe manner without losing priority. Consider options presented in Fig 10.13 of LTN 1/20 for all side road crossings.
Both design options present suggested improvements to existing unsignalised crossings, however the north south movement of pedestrians and cyclists has not been considered. Additional crossing points of Otley Road could be included, especially considering likely trips down Beckwirth Road accessing College site.
Crossings on both schemes are shared toucans and could be improved by offering segregated parallel crossings.
Shared use option
Shared use in unlikely to see an uptick in active travel when considering the planned large scale residential development to the west of the scheme, and the inclusion of the scheme on Harrogate’s Primary LCWIP corridor. LTN 1/20 chapter 5.5.3 suggests that footway conversion into shared use should only be considered when options that reuse carrigeway or verge have been rejected.
Segregated option
To ensure continuity along the route consider narrowing carriageway on western extent of scheme to allow for continued width throughout’
Phase 3 as an Isolated Fragment of Cycle Infrastructure
A bigger problem than the proposed shared use design is that NYC refuse to join up Otley Road Cycleway to the town centre. Phase 3 appears to be condemned to be an isolated fragment of cycle facility.
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee in January 2025, National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman said that ATE’s principle is ‘do it all or don’t bother’. Funding for schemes with gaps in them should be refused.
Unfortunately, ATE do not appear to be living up to those words where Otley Road Cycleway is concerned. ATE told us:
‘As the Otley Road Cycleway phases did not receive funding through the Active Travel Fund, these schemes are not included in our monitoring of scheme delivery. As such, we do not hold any information regarding the status of Phase 2 of the Otley Road Cycleway’.
ATE could easily find out the status of Phase 2 if they wanted to know. NYC have cancelled it. (Given that cycling in traffic on Otley Road has now been identified as a Critical Safety Issue, that decision looks irresponsible).
Phase 3 is the subject of a current funding application to Homes England. ATE can either ensure that the design is up to the right standard and part of a coherent route, thus making sure public money is well-spent, or they can wash their hands of it.
We hope they do the right thing.