Final stage of Parliament Street junction upgrades sees temporary lights installed

Motorist can expect roadworks and temporary traffic light systems at the Parliament Street - Ripon Road junction in Harrogate starting from next week.
The temporary traffic lights are expected to be in place for one week.The temporary traffic lights are expected to be in place for one week.
The temporary traffic lights are expected to be in place for one week.

Harrogate drivers travelling at four way junction at the bottom on Parliament Street will be governed by temporary lights for one week starting from July 31.

The temporary signals will be in place while contractors undertake works to change the current traffic lights to 'smart lights', as part of a £210,000 investment by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC).

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The roadworks are the final phase of the project to upgrade the traffic signals at the junction, with preliminary work such as wiring and fitting equipment having taken place in recent weeks.

But Traffic Engineer Team Leader at NYCC, James Smith, said that most people in the town "probably wont have noticed that anything has changed already."

The week coincides with when the Royal Hall on Ripon Road will play host to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival from Sat August 4 - 20.

But the 24-hour temporary signals are only schedule to last from Monday to Friday, and Mr Smith said it is hoped the work will not take the full working week to complete.

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He said: "A lot of the signals in this areas have been failing more regularly than usual. We have done a lot of coordination with our local highways team in the Boroughbridge office.

"We have chosen this week as being the one that avoids big events and such as far as we possibly can. It's taken a lot of coordination and this is the best week that we could have done it.

"We would hope to finish before Friday, if we do have any major issues it will obviously cause delays but I don't think it will get to that."

Mr Smith also said the upgraded equipment has already been fitted at the junctions where Parliament Street meets Oxford Street and King’s Road meets Cheltenham Crescent but will not be running as smart lights until the final stage at the bottom of Parliament Street is completed next week.