Improvements to Bond End will start in March next year says council

North Yorkshire County Council has announced that work to deliver a new junction lay out at Bond End is due to begin in March, in a bid to address air quality concerns at the junction.

Residents have been calling for improvements to the junction for years, after it was identified as an Air Quality Management Area in 2013.

In January, a public consultation was held outlining seven options which were designed to reduce air pollution by relieving congestion and reducing the amount of standing traffic.

But after the consultation results were considered, it was decided additional traffic data needed to be collected and more traffic modelling was undertaken over the summer.

Now, the council has said that its officers will make a recommendation to Executive Members in January, with work on the preferred option two months later.

Executive Member for Highways, Coun Don Mackenzie said: "I look forward to receiving the recommendations from the Bond End Steering Group and to the decision to move forward with revised traffic arrangements, which are designed to reduce the numbers of queuing vehicles and idling engines, a major cause of NO2 emissions at the busy and complex junction.”

The work is part of the programme of schemes funded from the National Productivity Investment Fund, a £5.1million sum secured by NYCC to improve local roads and public transport.

County Councillor Zoe Metcalfe, (Knaresborough division) and Chair of the Bond End Steering Group, said: “We have listened to the public consultation and were happy to do some further modelling work to ensure we come up with the best solution possible.’’