A SECOND public meeting is to be held next week to help find a solution to the ongoing traffic issues in Malton and Norton.

More than 100 people attended an initial meeting in December, which was organised by members of the Norton and Malton Local Traffic Congestion, in a bid to voice their frustration at changes to the Church Street junction, which was implemented by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) two years ago.

Concerns were raised over the safety of the junction both from a pedestrian and motorists’ point of view.

Darren Rushworth, from the Norton and Malton Local Traffic Congestion group, said: “We had a tremendous response to our first meeting and were certainly not expecting so many people to attend.

“We also didn’t realise how much feeling there was out there about the junction.

“What we want to do is to keep the momentum going and let the powers-that-be know that we are not going to go away.”

Darren said they hoped even more people would attend the second

meeting.

“We have put the word out and are hoping there will be representatives from various groups and organisations, including the fire brigade, police, Coastliner and Network Rail,” he said.

“Our aim is to push things forward from the first meeting and if the right people are them to look at some of the solutions.”

Darren said the group had produced flyers which has been distributed around Malton and Norton.

“We would welcome as many people as possible to come along and support this meeting,” he said.

“Anyone who is affected by the junction, whether they live in Malton, Norton or further afield, is welcome to come along and make their feeling known.

“We want to show people that we will be listened to and we won’t give up until improvements are made to benefit our towns.”

North Yorkshire County Council is currently working on a computer traffic model, which will test the impacts of changing the traffic movements in Norton and Malton, which will then go out to public consultation.

Richard Marr, the county council’s area highways manager, said: “Work on the Malton and Norton traffic model, which will allow us to test the impacts of changing the traffic movements, is at an advanced stage.

“We should be ready to look at various traffic scenarios at the beginning of April and will then take the results to the public and local councillors.”

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 6, at 7pm, at Ryedale Community Leisure Centre, off Scarborough Road, in Norton.

For more information, go to Norton and Malton Local Traffic Congestion on Facebook.