Car park cuts will drive people out of York

The council should be applauded, because their strategy will reduce congestion in York city centre. York residents will find there are other towns and cities with shops, restaurants and places to spend money and leisure time, all within a short distance.

Yes we can use Park and Ride. It can take up to one hour from leaving home to arrival in the city centre. This assumes we can drive to the Park and Ride location without causing congestion.

In a similar time York residents can drive to Harrogate where there is ample free parking or longer-stay at £2 for the afternoon. It has shops, restaurants and even open spaces to enjoy an equal, or better, experience than that offered by our home city.

City of York Council appeared to be concerned that long-stay visitors are not discouraged from coming to York. Perhaps city retailers might like a similar emphasis to be put on attracting York residents into the city centre?

The council tell us short-stay parking is not being cut, so we can still pop into town for an hour - does that not contribute to congestion?

The attractions for York residents to visit the city centre appear to be on a rapid decline. While I have been known to be wrong, the message from the council to York residents is clear: 'on your bike' and they don't care if your disposable income is spent in another town. Sorry York retailers.

David Gorwood,

Stockton Lane,

York.

...THIS is just another example of how City of York Council actively discriminates against car owners. I am now convinced the council has a clear policy to try to cause as much congestion in the York area as possible.

There are a number of locations where the council has reduced roads from two lanes to one, such as Clifton Moor, the Hull Road roundabout and outside York railway station. In each case the result has been more congestion for people simply trying to get into work or into York to shop.

Why is the council doing this? So that it can turn around to the electorate and tell them to look how congested York is, resulting in yet another excuse to close more car parks and build more speed humps and mini roundabouts.

I know York city centre wasn't built to take traffic at the levels we see and I enjoy walking around a traffic-free city. However two of the examples I have given you are not in the centre whilst the third is on one of the major routes into and through town.

Simon Hyde,

Headley Close,

Clifton,

York.

...AS usual the news on the City of York Council's plans for traffic is a mixture of good and bad (May 21).

Various car parks are to be replaced by residential developments, but do these schemes have adequate provision for all the cars that these new residents will want to park at home?

The council suggests that people use Park and Ride instead of parking in the city centre, but these pages have long testified to the fact that Park and Ride is over-priced and unreliable.

Surely a cheap and reliable service is more of an incentive to people?

At last there are plans afoot for the long-overdue installation of electronic signs to tell motorists which car parks are full. I wrote to the Evening Press in December 2000 suggesting such an obvious scheme.

Maybe cars queuing down Piccadilly for the car park and belching out fumes will become a thing of the past.

As the council is so keen on Park and Ride, it should extend the electronic car park information signs to beyond the ring road so that cars can be directed to Park and Ride, particularly when the city centre car parks are full.

Dr Duncan Campbell,

Albemarle Road,

York.

...WITH all these car park closures, do City of York Council intend to offer more residents parking to those of us now having to encounter the city's overflow parking/congestion up such roads as Huntington Road?

This causes potential dangerous situations with double parking, road narrowing and parking on bends.

F Merrill,

Huntington Road,

York.

Updated: 10:38 Monday, May 27, 2002