Now lockdown is gradually being lifted, when will the partial closing off of Bishopthorpe Road to cars be abandoned?

The alleged problem is an excess of pedestrians and cyclists not having enough space to get past each other without getting too close together, a phenomenon car drivers would call congestion.

Curious how the council’s transport department was instantly able to realise the solution to such congestion was not to install bollards or introduce walking restrictions, but to widen the available space, a phenomenon car drivers would call dualling. Suppose next week we close off Nunnery Lane, Blossom Street and Scarcroft Road to traffic instead? I wonder what the reaction to that would be on Bishopthorpe Road, when all the cars are diverted past their front doors?

These schemes are not innocent trials of new ideas, they are deliberate, calculated schemes by the current council administration to try and beat people out of their cars by any means necessary and it should be resisted.

Dr Scott Marmion, Woodthorpe, York

We’ll maintain an open dialogue on Bishy Road

Shortly after lockdown began, all three Micklegate Ward councillors began hearing concerns from residents and businesses about the difficulties in maintaining safe physical distancing on Bishopthorpe Road, particularly on the narrow pavement side when queues form outside shops.

The trial closure is designed to address this and we support its intention.

We will continue talking with residents, shopkeepers and council officers to see if it can be improved. We are also focussed on tackling the problem of increased, unnecessary and intrusive rat-running on St Benedict’s Road.

Deliveries have been maintained but for our great independent shops to survive longer-term we also need to create an environment where people feel confident to visit and safe to linger. Re-allocating road space from motor vehicles to people helps to achieve this.

We acknowledge the closure may cause some inconvenience to road users but we believe it is a proportionate response to the incredibly difficult and unprecedented situation we find ourselves in.

Most important – now and in the future - is that people remain safe. We are determined to maintain an open, honest and constructive dialogue with the whole community as we go forward into a world that has undoubtedly changed in ways that we cannot yet fully imagine.

Cllr Rosie Baker,

Cllr Jonny Crawshaw,

Cllr Pete Kilbane,

Micklegate Ward, York