County Council to hold talks on revised Leeds Road junction plan

North Yorkshire County Council will hold an informal meeting with local stakeholders to discuss a set of revised proposals to improve the operation of the junction at A61 Leeds Road / Leadhall Lane / Hookstone Road, Harrogate and to reduce congestion.
The authority’s revised plan is based on the significant amount of feedback which followed the release of its draft report on the junction improvements in March. The county council is now inviting further discussion and feedback on the revised proposals before a decision on the way forward is made by the county council in July.
The county council wishes to thank everybody who has taken the trouble to give feedback on the draft report and has now written to a number of stakeholders and lead members of the community to attend a meeting on June 2nd to talk through the detail of the revision.
“We have listened very carefully to what people have had to say” said County Councillor Gareth Dadd, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Highways, “and we have worked very hard to take account of all the responses.
“We want to make sure we have taken on board as wide a range of views as possible about the changes to be made to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion at this very busy junction. We now look forward to further discussion on our revised plan before a final decision is taken in July. Our aim has always been to make this junction work for the surrounding communities and transport users and we have always been clear that we welcomed people’s views in order to make informed decisions.”
The revised plan includes key proposals to introduce an improved method of traffic signalling; introduce parallel parking outside the Oatlands Parade shops; to remove the protected right turn into Vernon Road and carry out a public consultation on a potential “no entry” restriction at the Vernon Road junction to improve traffic flow and road safety. The proposals also recommend the removal of the no-right-turn onto Mount Street, subject to further consultation.
A final report will go before the July 3rd meeting of the County Council’s Business and Environmental Services corporate director and Executive members, for a final decision on the way forward