Five years after North Yorkshire Council (NYC) received £1,011,750 of Active Travel Fund 2 (ATF2) money, they have finally built something with it.
There are small improvements on Victoria Avenue for pedestrians.
TL;DR
Negatives:
- it took 5 years from funding in 2020 for any on-the-ground improvements at all
- initial plans were for four ambitious cycling schemes, but all were scrapped
- in the end we got two light-controlled pedestrian crossings for £1 million, which is not good value
- large areas of flagstones on the pavement were replaced, which is not a meaningful improvement for active travel, just ‘prettifying the status quo’
Positives:
- the council finally stopped sitting on the money and did something with it
- the pedestrian crossings are a small improvement for walking, although it was already easy to cross at these points, and so far people seem a bit confused by the new arrangements
- early release cycle signals were added at either end of Victoria Avenue, which is a small improvement for people who already cycle
ATF2 in North Yorkshire
NYC was awarded £1,011,750 from ATF2 in November 2020.
In December 2020, the council said that the money would be spent on three cycling schemes in Harrogate and one in Whitby.
Years of delay followed.
In the end, the four original schemes were all scrapped. Instead, NYC focused on a single unambitious scheme on Victoria Avenue, Harrogate.
Pedestrian Crossings
Uncontrolled crossings at either end of Victoria Avenue have been replaced by light-controlled crossings (photo at the top of the page).
This is a small improvement for walking, although early observations are that people are slightly confused by the new arrangement and don’t tend to wait for a green light.
There are plenty of places in Harrogate where pedestrian crossings are needed far more, for example at the Prince of Wales roundabout.
The zebra crossing at the Library has been retained, but the metal railings there have been removed.
Flagstones
A significant amount of the contractors’ time seemed to be spent on replacing the flagstones on the pavement with new ones.
This is really a routine maintenance job, not an active travel improvement.
The new flagstones will look slightly nicer until they become weathered and look like the old ones.
LTN 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design describes this as ‘prettifying the status quo’, and says that such work should not be funded from any cycling or walking budget.
Footway Build-Out
The footway at the bottom of Victoria Avenue has been built out to try to stop drivers making the illegal movement from Beech Grove to Victoria Avenue.
When school starts again we will see if it is effective.
Bollard Removed from Fragment of Cycle Track
A fragment of cycle track allows people on bikes to go straight across Station Parade when travelling west.
It had a bollard in it, which prevented people on larger cycles from using it, but the bollard has now been removed.
Early Release Cycle Signals
Low-level cycle signals have been added at either end of Victoria Avenue, and they give people on bikes a 4s head start on general traffic. This is a small but welcome improvement for those who already cycle.
They are only useful to people who are prepared to cycle on the road in mixed traffic, so are unlikely to persuade new people to get around by bike.