YOUR January 1 headline to the letter by Bob Allison, said that “York must get it right with A64 Plans.” The A64 is a strategic trunk road, managed and funded by Highways England. City of York Council has no direct responsibility for it. However they have joined with other local authorities along the A64 corridor, east of our city, to jointly try to influence Highways England thinking.

By contrast, the A1237 has had a chequered ownership history. It was built by North Yorkshire County Council, then adopted by the Highways Agency (now Highways England). After York became a Unitary Authority, whose extended boundary now encompassed the A1237, this road was detrunked and handed over to the then-new CoYC.

CoYC has inherited responsibility for maintaining the road, but has no significant internal funding for further changes. We are dependent upon our membership of West Yorkshire Transport Fund, the York/North Yorkshire/East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership, and any occasional crumbs that reach us from the Department for Transport, eg the recent “pinch point” fund.

Flyovers and dualling along the A1237 would be prohibitively expensive. And once induced traffic is factored in, additional capacity would be absorbed within a few years, and take us back to square one.

Bigger jams on bigger roads. Within urban York, spending priority should be given to helping non-motorised users travel safely alongside and across the A1237.

More cycle and pedestrian underpasses or bridges, and a widening of the narrow, shared path, where the road crosses the River Ouse and East Coast rail line.

Paul Hepworth, Windmill Rise, Holgate, York