Harrogate and Knaresborough risk being turned into giant car parks now Nidd Gorge relief road plan is dead: YP Letters

Congestion is a common sight in Harrogate.

As a Harrogate resident, I have to run the gauntlet of the serious congestion that has bogged the traffic in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area down to almost a standstill. Unfortunately, apathy reigned supreme in the recent public vote on the planned relief road (The Yorkshire Post, October 8).

Thousands of local people couldn’t be bothered to vote except the dog walkers who use the Nidd Gorge.

I regularly read that park-and- ride is the answer and “get out and walk” would take enough traffic off the road that the problem would be solved at a stroke.

It would certainly help, but a vital point is being missed here. Harrogate is the crossing point of two major routes.

The A59 is one of only three trans-Pennine routes and causes major congestion.

The A61 (a route from Ripon to Leeds) also passes right through the town centre. Park and ride won’t stop this traffic.

There is also a massive new house building programme going on. I’m told up to 4,000 houses just on the west side of Harrogate. This will generate even more traffic.

If The Nidd Gorge idea has been kicked into the long grass, can someone please tell me how they intend to deal with traffic that is just passing through the town on the A61 and A59? If nothing sensible happens, then the Harrogate and Knaresborough area is going to become one giant car park.