North Yorkshire Council to reveal results of study into Oatlands Drive traffic proposals

It’s been confirmed that Harrogate residents anxious that not enough progress has been made on ‘active travel’ plans for Oatlands Drive – or worried, perhaps, about the exact opposite – will find out what happens next in just a fortnight’s time.
By Graham Chalmers
Published 30th Aug 2023, 16:32 BST
Updated 30th Aug 2023, 16:33 BST
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Highways and transport officers at North Yorkshire Council are currently assessing the feedback from public consultation launched in October 2022 about proposals to use part of £1.465 million in funding secured from the Government’s Active Travel Fund programme to tackle traffic congestion in the area by reducing car travel in favour of walking and cycling.

The online engagement on the council website followed opposition to original plans to create a one-way system on Oatlands Drive which were ditched in March 2021.

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Residents groups argued the idea would simply push traffic congestion into neighbouring streets and make access to school buses difficult for students at St Aidan’s High School and St John Fisher High School.

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North Yorkshire Council is assessing the feedback from public consultation about proposals to use part of £1.465 million in Government funding to tackle traffic congestion by changing traffic arrangements in the Oatlands Drive area of Harrogate. (Picture Gerard Binks)North Yorkshire Council is assessing the feedback from public consultation about proposals to use part of £1.465 million in Government funding to tackle traffic congestion by changing traffic arrangements in the Oatlands Drive area of Harrogate. (Picture Gerard Binks)
North Yorkshire Council is assessing the feedback from public consultation about proposals to use part of £1.465 million in Government funding to tackle traffic congestion by changing traffic arrangements in the Oatlands Drive area of Harrogate. (Picture Gerard Binks)

Now, nearly a year after the online survey was launched, residents will finally get to see the results.

After the Harrogate Advertiser raised readers’ concerns, North Yorkshire Council confirmed today, Wednesday it planned to provide an update at the upcoming Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee meeting of councillors on September 14.

A key question is what the public will have made of the proposed traffic changes still on the table.

The online survey includes the following ideas:

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1 A one-way filter at St Winifred's to prohibit vehicles exiting onto Oatlands Drive to reduce complaints about school parking and to prevent rat-running in the Saints area.

2 A 20mph zone between York Place and Hookstone Drive with options to extend this into three surrounding roads, including Oatlands Drive, Hookstone Drive and Wetherby Road.

3 The introduction of one way filters at a number of junctions in the Oatlands Drive area.

Whatever the conclusions officers make after assessing all the data and public opinion, it is unlikely to end there.

A condition of the Active Travel funding from the Department for Transport is a programme of consultation must be undertaken before any scheme can be built.

Related topics:Oatlands DriveHarrogateGovernmentActive Travel Fund