Plans to construct a junction improvement scheme in Whitby including new traffic lights could be approved by councillors later this week.
Councillor Keane Duncan, the executive member for highways and transport on North Yorkshire Council, is set to sign off on the first phase of the Whitby Harbourside Public Realm scheme which aims to improve the area around the Swing Bridge.
The current proposal includes installing new traffic signals at the junction of A171 New Bridge, Spital Bridge, A171 Helredale Road and Larpool Lane.
The council said it expects the A171 New Bridge and Spital Bridge junction improvement to cost between £600,000 and £750,000.
If the plan is approved, construction will take place from early April to the beginning of July.
The public realm project aims to “flexibly pedestrianise” the area and create an improved experience for both residents and visitors by encouraging nonmotorised links between the east and the west of the town.
According to a report prepared for the meeting on Friday, February 28, there is a “practical need to signalise this junction as, without doing so, it would be very difficult to proceed with the remainder of the Harbourside Public Realm scheme”.
The £2.3m project was proposed and funded through the Whitby Town Deal and is made up of five further proposals across the town, all of which were part of a consultation in 2023.
More than 64 per cent of those consulted said they were in favour of introducing traffic signals at Spital Bridge Junction, the report adds.
Officers acknowledged that signalising the junction would improve conditions for drivers exiting on the side roads and for pedestrians but would introduce queueing on the A171 New Bridge and A171 Helredale Road.
“The predicted average maximum queue lengths on Spital Bridge would be 8.7 vehicles, compared to the existing average maximum queues of 24 vehicles as was observed in the peak hour on the August bank holiday in 2022,” a report states.
It adds that “the average queuing on the signalised junction as a whole would be increased, however, queueing on the Spital Bridge arm would decrease”.
Whitby Town Council said it supported the proposal in principle and Coun Neil Swannick, who represents Whitby Streonshalh, welcomed the introduction of the additional signal-controlled crossing points.
Councillor Swannick added: “These crossings will be ‘straight through’ which will make life easier for the many school students who are now making their way to Whitby School on the west side of New Bridge.”
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