A roadworks project is about to start to improve traffic flow through a market town.
The roadworks are the first stage of a five-year programme in Hawes to provide a better environment for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.
It will also improve road safety and parking in the town.
North Yorkshire County Council has been developing the project for nearly two years and the works, which get under way a week today, are linked to the town's traffic management strategy.
One of the areas worst affected by the roadworks will be the westbound part of the A684 one-way system between Town Foot and Market Place, where a 20mph zone will be introduced, footpaths widened and the road foundations reconstructed in some areas. This work is expected to run from February until the end of May.
A footpath will be built on Brunt Acres Road and a retaining wall rebuilt at Haylands Bridge.
A ramped footpath will also be constructed linking Penny Garth car park to Gayle Lane car park.
Residents are being invited to a public meeting on Thursday to meet representatives from the county council, the contractor Raynesway Construction Southern (RCS), and the council's consultant Mouchel Parkman.
The meeting takes place between 9am and 10.30am at the National Park Visitor Centre in Hawes.
Councillor Peter Sowray, the county council's executive member for environmental services, said: "Officers will be pleased to discuss the proposals and to answer questions.
"The contractor is appointing a full-time traffic management liaison officer who will be on site every day.
"The liaison officer will be at the meeting and it will be his job to ensure that, as far as possible, disruption is minimised and arrangements are made in advance for those occasions when access to properties and businesses is essential.
"We would ask the public to bear with us while the works are in progress, we will do our best to minimise disturbance and nuisance.
"For your safety, please keep out of the construction areas, and keep children away from the site."
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