MORE than £30 million to upgrade roundabouts that City of York Council has already spent money on (Ring road dualling bid steps up a gear, January 8)? Really?

Take a good look at the “improvements” at the Wigginton and Rawcliffe roundabouts.

All that has been achieved is a widening of the bottleneck not an improvement of traffic flow.

The A64 was designed and built as a dual carriageway and has performed perfectly so why didn’t the same apply to A1237?

The A1237 should be left as it is and renamed the Inner Ring Road, and we should then build a new dual carriageway as a solution.

Take the route to enclose Askham Bryan, Rufforth, Skelton with a feeder road to the north of Shipton by Beningbrough to solve their request for a bypass. Enclose Wigginton, Haxby and Strensall with feeder roads to alleviate issues at the five level crossings in the villages and join the A64 beyond Claxton Hall.

This moves through traffic away from the shopping areas and allows access to all villages from the opposite side as current plus access for any proposed new builds to the north of the city.

Steve Searle, Lowfield Drive, Haxby

We need broad view of transport needs

I CANNOT comment on the need or otherwise for widening the A1237 and other roads around York. However I hope the planned £300,000 evaluation study reported in the Press (January 8) will look at wider transport needs for getting around York rather than focusing solely on motorist’s needs.

The Number 20 bus once formed a useful “north circular”

route of its own linking Acomb with Poppleton and Clifton Moor. Though only hourly and “round the houses”

it was the only direct link to major supermarkets. It was uniquely useful for shoppers and people working at Clifton Moor, which is a large employment centre.

Unfortunately City of York Council cut funding for services on the west end of the route beyond Clifton Moor. I do not blame the council which axed support for many useful services due to Government funding cuts. However, the loss of the bus greatly inconvenienced Acomb and Poppleton people going to Clifton Moor for work, leisure and shopping.

It must be possible to take a broader view of outer York’s transport needs. We are not all regular car users and surely the last thing York needs is more motorists?

Many people including young people and pensioners cannot or should not drive, and their needs should be taken into consideration.

Spending a portion of the £300,000 on public transport evaluation could help assist the many non car users in society. Even part of that sum could restore the much missed bus service. We need a more balanced approach to transport planning - this could be the opportunity.

Roger Backhouse, Orchard Road, Upper Poppleton