COMMERCE and a sociable environment will keep the historic Centre of York alive and healthy. And that depends on easy, pleasant and fast access by people.

Transport planning needs to optimize movement of people, not movement of cars. Cars take up a lot of road space and choke access to the heart of York.

So extending the traffic-free streets towards the station is a step in the right direction.

Lendal Bridge is the vital artery bringing those vital streams of people from the station and the buses into the centre. Cars choke this artery, as they make walking a nightmare and cycling worse.

We are familiar with the analogy in human bodies: choke the arteries and see what happens to the heart.

Fortunately there is a growing awareness of the need to revitalise the heart of cities threatening to be choked by cars, not to mention the effects on health of people through noise and air pollution.

Some diehard drivers cannot accept this, but would they go back to the “good old days” with access to Coney Street, Parliament Street, etc? Car-free streets have saved the commercial heart of York before.

Willy Hoedeman, Howe Hill Close, York.