North Yorkshire’s roads boss has rejected suggestions that a “two-tier” system for maintaining highways across the county and York is being created.
City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council have worked together to create a Key Route Network (KRN).
A report to York council said any road included in the list:
- provided strategic connections between towns, cities or regions;
- gave access to an important location;
- or carried high-frequency bus services.
The report states: “There is likely to be an expectation that roads within the KRN will be maintained to a higher level than other roads and therefore the decision across the two local authorities will impact how the maintenance funds are allocated.”
North Yorkshire’s executive member for climate change Cllr Greg White questioned whether repairs on other parts of the road network would be carried out quickly and efficiently.
He said: “There is always a concern when some parts of the network are singled out for special treatment that other parts will receive a reduced service.”
‘Nothing will change’
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways Councillor Keane Duncan said nothing would change in how the authority maintained and operated roads in the county.
He said the routes included in the KRN amounted to 425 miles of “strategic roads”, or just over seven per cent of North Yorkshire’s 5,600-mile road network.
Cllr Duncan said: “Just to be clear we are not in any way creating a two-tier road network.
“One advantage, however, to the designations in the Key Route Network, we hope, is that this could help secure funding from government for strategic schemes we might like to introduce.”
The KRN does not include routes that form part of the Strategic Road Network that are managed and maintained by National Highways, such as the A1(M), M62, A64, A66(T), A168(T) and the A19(T).
It is expected funding for maintenance schemes on the KRN will be part of the usual local highway authority funding streams, which in North Yorkshire is £37 million a year.
Responding to the proposed KRN, which will be considered by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, North Yorkshire’s climate change champion, Cllr Paul Haslam, called on the council “to look beyond road-based solutions”, especially in Harrogate.
He said while 2018 had seen significant work undertaken to examine how congestion in Harrogate and Knaresborough could be tackled, little as yet had been implemented.
Cllr Haslam said: “I note that the A59 and the A61 are on the list, but it should be noted that 93 per cent of traffic is generated internally, with over 60 per cent of journeys 2km or less.”