Approval set for transport funding

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive will meet on Tuesday next week to rubber-stamp £5.3m in funding from Westminster to provide vital improvements to the infrastructure in both Whitby and the Harrogate areas.

The Department for Transport announced last month the funding had been made available under a national scheme which will see more than a quarter of a billion pounds of improvements to reduce congestion, cut carbon emissions and boost economic growth. But the funding for North Yorkshire fell significantly short of outline proposals which the council submitted last summer to try to secure £10m under the Local Sustainable Transport Plan.

The council’s executive member for highways and planning services, Coun Gareth Dadd, said: “There are elements of the schemes which we will not be able to undertake, but this is not a time of commiseration as this money is extremely welcome. It will help cut congestion in some of the worst areas for traffic tailbacks in Yorkshire, while also bringing long-term economic benefits.”

The Whitby scheme will see a park and ride site built on the A171 with a daily service between Easter and October. A daily hopper bus service will also operate into the Esk Valley in the summer and on weekends between Easter and October.

Improvements are also due to be made to paths and bridleways in the North York Moors National Park. But an electric bike hire network, travel guide, improvements to the Esk Valley Railway and smart ticketing will not be delivered. The scheme in Harrogate will boost bus travel and introduce new cycle routes, with better links to the Great Yorkshire Showground and Harrogate District Hospital.

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