Two key priority schemes to improve the travel infrastructure and town centres of North Yorkshire have received a £1.2 million cash boost.
The schemes – for Harrogate and Selby – have today (Wednesday, October 2) received support from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Mayoral Investment Fund.
North Yorkshire Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “I welcome the endorsement of the mayor for these projects, which are important priorities for the council.
“The intelligent traffic lights in Harrogate will help improve traffic flow through the town centre as vehicles move past the Convention Centre and on to the railway station. And the Selby scheme will see the station area transformed which we hope will bring economic benefits to the town and strengthen its role as a transport hub.
“We submitted a list of our key projects to the combined authority and am pleased to see they are being endorsed by the mayor.”
One of the main routes through Harrogate town centre, the A61, will get £500,000 towards the installation of intelligent traffic lights on two junctions. The lights will ‘talk’ to each other as they monitor traffic movement to make flow better around the centre. It will complement the £12 million Harrogate Gateway scheme which aims to boost access to the town’s rail and bus stations.
The Selby Station Gateway project is a £25.4 million Transforming Cities Fund scheme to significantly improve the town’s railway station area. The scheme will connect the area to Selby Abbey and town centre and improve cycling and walking connections to new housing and employment sites.
The first phase will include improvements to both rail and bus facilities, the creation of a new public square with new development sites either side, new and upgraded walking and cycling routes and a new car park and eastern access to the station. This scheme has received £700,000 from the mayoral fund.
The combined authority also approved six North Yorkshire schemes in the pipeline and subject to further work – housing revenue proposition, Ripon connectivity, Scarborough town centre sites, Skipton Wyvern link road and Selby Abbey Quarter.
The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, said: “Improving transport connectivity across the region is critical to support our ambitions to become the first carbon negative region in the UK and enable economic growth.
“That’s why I’m using the Mayoral Investment Fund to support existing local authority-led schemes that will create the right facilities and environment to make people’s journeys better.
“These schemes are ready to be progressed, so this additional funding will mean local residents can start to see the benefits sooner.
“By providing early investment in projects that will help residents across the whole of York and North Yorkshire, we can already begin to demonstrate the positive impact of devolution – making decisions at a local level that affect our businesses and residents.”