As residents of Penleys Grove Street, we would like to respond to Matthew Laverack (Lowther Street is no rat run, Letters, October 31) with regard the Penleys Grove Street/Townend Street/Lowther Street proposals.

Heavy levels of traffic now flood into Penleys Grove Street, which has become much worse since the Layerthorpe Link Road opened. The recently ‘improved’ Wigginton Road/Haxby Road junction also funnels traffic into Lowther Street. Weight restrictions and speed limits are totally ignored.

On Penleys Grove Street, deafening heavy, commercial vehicles, huge coaches and private cars use this ten-foot wide residential street as a rat run 24 hours per day. On Lowther Street, the build-up of near-stationary vehicles creates a poisonous blockage of idling traffic for hours each day, next to housing and the Park Grove School playing fields. Research shows this will negatively affect the long-term health and well-being of the children.

We need to close these fragile and collapsing residential roads to heavy through traffic as proposed and urgently re-imagine the way we live in our city. Car users should be deterred from polluting and abusing local residential streets and be encouraged to use neighbouring trunk roads.

Ed Lott,

Penleys Grove Street,

Plus the undersigned residents:

M. Beaufoy, A. Brooke, G. Bull, P. Feldman, J. Kirk, S. Kirk, E. Lott, C. Ottaway, M. Rowe, K and C Thorpe

Thank you council for listening on rat run

We would like to thank City of York Council for listening to the concerns of Groves residents regarding the problems caused by large numbers of vehicles using the neighbourhood as a rat run.

The narrow residential streets of Lowther Street and Penleys Grove Street were not designed to be main artery roads, but most current traffic is private and commercial vehicles driving straight through the neighbourhood. The 20mph speed limit is not adhered to, and drivers rarely give way to pedestrians, even young families walking to one of the two local primary schools. We are regularly subjected to aggressive driving and verbal abuse whilst parking outside our home because drivers expect to progress quickly.

In the last 12 months our much-loved cat was hit by a car and killed, and our parked car was written off by speeding traffic. With many young families and vulnerable adults living in the area, we worry a much more serious incident will occur unless action is taken.

James and Olivia Euesden

Penleys Grove Street, York