The Clifton Green/Water End Junction debacle has already generated plenty of steam and letters.
If City of York Council is considering any similar schemes for other parts of York I suggest that first they seek advice from the council of my home town – Barnsley.
Barnsley had decided to alter a road layout in the town centre, but before it was made permanent the council took a wise decision and set up a temporary version of the proposed changes to give it a test run.
Result – chaos and congestion.
Subsequent decision by Barnsley council – forget the new road layout. Leave things as they are and spend the money on something useful instead. (But probably not on new working groups or scrutiny committees.) Paul Elmhirst, Stillingfleet, York.
• So traffic issues still predominate in local news coverage and the letters page. In respect of the ring road, I notice that Coun Gillies, leader of the Tories on City of York Council, has “renewed calls for the road to be dualled”. The likely cost, however, is £240 million. Has he not noticed the commitment to massive public expenditure cuts by David Cameron, his leader nationally? Are they in the same political party, one wonders?
The success of Park&Ride in reducing cars into the city is widely recognised. Unsurprisingly the use of car parks has fallen. So as a “knee-jerk” reaction to the lower level of income from parking charges, the Liberal Democrats propose encouraging car users back into the city by reducing charges. Am I missing something, or is there some inconsistency here?
Perhaps a more strategic approach is required? However, the council already has more strategies than it knows what to do with – it’s translating them into meaningful solutions which appears to be the problem – dare I mention the Barbican, the civic offices, the “Teardrop site”, etc.
Bob Towner, Hobgate, York.
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