How £ 19m will get us walking and into biking

‘ It’s excellent new we have this funding’

MORE DETAILS about how millions of pounds of Government money for safer cycling and walking routes in Yorkshire will be spent by local councils have been revealed.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps handed Yorkshire authorities an extra £ 19.1m for active travel projects in an announcement on Thursday.

North Yorkshire County Council gets £ 1,011,750, with plans for Harrogate including £ 250,000 for segregated cycle lanes on the A59 between the town and Knaresborough, as well as improved road crossings.

The same amount will be spent on pedestrian- crossing improvements, cycle lanes and bike storage in the Victoria Avenue area of Harrogate.

Segregated cycle lanes and crossing improvements in Oatlands Drive, which amount to £ 215,000, were also included.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, the

county’s executive member for access, said: “We are committed to improving active, sustainable modes of travel for people across the county wherever possible.

“Following public engagement in the summer, we submitted a strong bid to the Government’s Active Travel Fund, so it’s excellent news that we have been successful in gaining this funding. We now await confirmation of the details of the funding from the Department for Transport.”

But in Calderdale a former councillor accused the authority of using the promotion of cycling as a way of getting around its needs for better road repairs, gulley cleaning and foliage trimming.

Andrew Tagg, who represented Skircoat ward on Calderdale Council for the Conservatives until losing the seat in 2018, said some routes in the borough, including his Halifax neighbourhood, posed risks because of poorly completed repairs, debrisstrewn gullies and potholes capable of bringing a rider off their bike.

Coun Jane Scullion, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member for regeneration and strategy, said the council teams worked hard all year to ensure roads across Calderdale were as safe and enjoyable to use as possible for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, focusing a limited budget on areas that needed it most.