A P COX claims (Letters, May 7) that City of York Council has done little to “keep traffic flowing” for many years.

He seems to assume that the council have a duty to accommodate whatever demands are placed on our roads.

The current Local Transport Plan has an alternative strategy, to reduce car dependency. Which approach is the more sensible?

Our city’s urban traffic control computer system dates from the mid-1990s and is heavily dependent on reliable vehicle detection.

Detection wire loops under the surface suffer from poor reliability, and are progressively being replaced with pole-mounted thermal camera detection.

These can recognise cyclists by their “heat signatures” and the system can be programmed to give them and public transport vehicles more green time.

Pedestrian crossing times can also be tweaked.

Many existing traffic signals are at “end of life” condition. Hence a rolling programme to replace them.

These measures will subtly increase network capacity without releasing suppressed demand for car use.

Mr Cox’s alternative brainwave of reopening Vyner and Fountayne streets to through traffic, would only create short term gain.

That would be replaced in due course by peak time logjams to the detriment of residents as the impact of induced traffic kicks in.

Paul Hepworth,

Windmill Rise,

Holgate, York