Plans progressing for ‘desperately needed’ Skipton link road

North Yorkshire Council says plans to build a new road linking Ings Lane, Engine Shed Lane and the Skipton bypass are progressing with preparation work set to finish this autumn.

A new road to the A629 Skipton bypass has been in the pipeline since 2017 as part of the former Craven District Council’s £4.68 million Skipton Employment and Housing Growth scheme.

But progress has been slow, frustrating residents and local councillors including Cllr Andy Solloway (Independent, Skipton West & West Craven).
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the new road will offer many benefits including taking HGVs from the industrial estate straight onto the bypass rather than travelling through town.

Cllr Solloway said: “This means that we can take a different approach to the dangerous junction opposite the railway station which is awful for pedestrians.”

The council’s redeveloped waste management depot is on Engine Shed Lane and it’s hoped with a link road, council bin wagons will be able to get straight onto the bypass without going through Carleton New Road.

This would improve efficiency and safety for pedestrians in town, according to Cllr Solloway. He added: “This link road is desperately needed, but also many planning applications in the area have been approved with the assumption that the link road would be there.”

In an update published this week, the council said upgrades of the two roads plus culverts at Ings Beck should be finished later this year.
Once completed, it could mean work on the link road can finally begin.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for highways and transport, Barrie Mason, said: “The development of the link road was part of a wider scheme inherited from the former Craven District Council to manage traffic within the south-west of Skipton.
“It aims to give traffic to and from Engine Shed Lane and Ings Lane industrial estates direct access to the A629 Skipton bypass.
“It was agreed by the former council to deliver the scheme in two phases. The first phase involves the upgrade of Engine Shed Lane and Ings Lane and culverts at Ings Beck. This is expected to be completed by the autumn.

“We appreciate the frustration around progress. However, it is essential to finish the current works to facilitate the link road.”