The great car debate

As a few examples, consider the traffic lights at the Bootham/Gillygate junction where poor sequencing causes horrendous tailbacks along Bootham. Consider the inappropriately positioned traffic island on Clifton Moor Gate close to the junction with Water Lane which causes massive hold-ups along Clifton Moor Gate.

Repositioning the bus stop on Fulford Road to effectively block the traffic flow is not unique; the same has happened elsewhere around the city. Bus stops have been located opposite each other so that when two buses arrive simultaneously, other traffic is brought to a standstill.

I could cite many other examples of poor traffic management planning and implementation that create the very congestion Mr Woolley claims to wish to avoid.

Traffic levels in the centre of York could and should be reduced but, in the meantime, much could be done to improve the flow of traffic around our city, traffic which incidentally includes Park & Ride buses.

A Dobinson,

Askham Lane, Acomb, York.

...IS York anti-car? The simple answer is yes!

We are treated to the usual "spin" from Mr Woolley. Not anti-car but anti-congestion - if so why are you creating it, Mr Woolley? Why are key traffic lights set against cars and traffic flow if not to deliberately offend motorists? Why else would a bus stop be built out other than to stop traffic flow while it piles up behind the buses, which are one-man operated?

The A19 outer ring road roundabout is anti-car - the lane markings are set to one priority, the Park & Ride, and have reduced the flow of traffic from two congested lanes to one even more congested lane.

Having an empty traffic lane for 99 per cent of the day is a great help. It encourages drivers to misuse it and I am sure a Park & Ride customer enjoys having to sit in a tailback of hundreds of metres before being able to use the lane.

On the subject of humps, I have one question. It is stated to cost between £5,000 and £10,000 to install a hump. What is the council's reaction to new Government legislation on disability? Under the new regulations, by 2017 all buses will have to have lower floors, so most new vehicles being bought by transport companies already comply with the regulations.

Within five years it is estimated that half the buses on the roads will have low floors and be unable to cope with the humps. Will humps have to be lowered? If so at what cost to the taxpayer?

M J Natt,

Orchard Close, Dringhouses, York.

...DOES Bill Woolley drive around York or does he move around with his eyes closed?

Several years ago when I was training to take my motorcycle riding test, I was told by an experienced instructor that he had never seen traffic control and road markings such as we have to endure in York.

As with the recent bus stop "peninsula" in Fulford Road, which a council spokesman insisted did not stop the traffic flow, the council seem to deny everything and dream up even more ridiculous traffic-jamming measures.

Mr S Horsley,

Westmoor Lane,

Heslington, York.

...EVEN though City Of York Council may not care for John Miller's interpretation of their traffic policy, they might reflect that many heads will be nodding in acknowledgement of both the issues he raises and the examples he cites.

Reading Mr Woolley's response, I smiled at his focus on the northern ring road. Perhaps if it had been built as a dual carriageway in the first place, there would be less need to keep tinkering with the layout.

The motoring public of York must be persuaded to feel less distanced from traffic planning issues. Greater public interest would result in the public feeling more supportive of the difficult task faced by Mr Woolley and his colleagues.

Jim Boam,

Eastfield Lane,

Dunnington, York.

...I DON'T think York council is anti-car so much as wrong in some of its policies on transport. The car is here to stay - most people own one and want to use it.

Yes, York is old and has narrow streets but it is wrong to make those streets even narrower and to use speed humps and to do away with so many good central car park spaces.

Allowing shops and offices to be built on good car parks and in the so called re-development areas is plain stupid and an environmental disaster. New Park & Ride schemes can be beneficial, such as Plan A in the Knapton and Poppleton areas.

Schools and the police and the council should do more to educate young children on road safety and not to play on roads. Roads are for traffic not games. A new decent proper bus station is what York needs most of all. The council is trying to help but it must listen.

David Quarrie,

Lynden Way, York.

...CITY of York Council is definitely not anti-car but they do have a problem. How does a pro-community local authority build a quality of life for all in the face of a populace that has punched the self-destruct button?

To solve a problem it first has to be correctly defined. The council have defined it correctly. The citizens of York and other cities have not.

Every motorist knows that the only journey that counts is the one that they are making. Stands to reason, doesn't it?

Only when the consumption-junkie culture of modern Western society is consigned to the dustbin will the misguided love affair with the car be brought under control.

City of York Council should be praised for its limited attempts to control road traffic chaos. It is one of few local authorities that has tried to implement stated government policy on transport in the face of a national government that has clearly lied its way into office, at least on transport.

I suspect that now is probably the time to do away with all fuel taxes, bus lanes, cycle lanes, road signs, speed limits, pedestrianisation projects and all other forms of attempts to manage the excessive levels of motorised road traffic. In double quick time the motorised will have slaughtered thousands and/or clogged every settlement in the UK.

Then when the cry goes up "something must be done" we can re-implement them with a consenting population.

Graham Horne,

Beech Avenue,

Bishopthorpe, York.

...YOU have recently printed letters and a story about the new bus stop at Fulford Road and I hope you will allow me to put the record straight.

Firstly, it is important to note that this was a replacement stop for the old arrangement at the old site, marked (clearly as 'no parking') within a parking zone, which wasn't working. The old arrangement was regularly abused and often the bus was not able to pull in and ended up with its rear stuck dangerously into the traffic.

Secondly, we have been installing "bus boarders" on various routes, which give easier access to those with mobility problems and those with prams and push chairs.

These rely on the bus pulling in parallel with the kerb. To achieve this we have been extending the length of designated bus stops. However, to have done so at this location would have reduced parking by around four places; and to avoid that the existing solution was chosen.

Needless to say, we have been monitoring the situation and we have discovered that when the bus stops, the width still available does allow a vehicle to pass while oncoming traffic is coming past.

Bill Woolley,

Assistant environment and development services director,

City of York Council,

St Leonard's Place, York.

Updated: 12:34 Tuesday, November 05, 2002