WITH regard to the closure of Walmgate Bar, as recommended by the city council in order to "protect" the original barbican and house, why has it not considered the option taken by the Victorians?

Why not open a "new millennium" gateway into the city on the other side of the Barbican? This would enable two streams of traffic to continue in and out of the city, rather than the short-sighted solution of closure.

Short-sighted because if the proposal to introduce a "rising bollard" in Heslington Lane is instituted, then the through traffic from Field Lane to Fulford Road will all be forced on to Hull Road and Lawrence Street, at a stroke doubling the length of queues already on this congested route into York at peak hours.

What hope for First York buses to keep to timetables then?

Mrs L Maloney,

Millfield Avenue,

York.

...JANET Kitchen hit the nail on the head with her reference to proposals to close Walmgate Bar to traffic (June 4) - the irresponsible actions of the minority are precisely why we are having to seek the closure of the ancient archway.

The council was developing a scheme of cameras and number plate recognition enforcement when the last incident occurred.

It was the comments of the driver when asked why he had attempted to drive through the bar that finally convinced the network management team that something more drastic had to be done.

The driver told the investigating officers that he saw all the warning signs but "thought that he could get through". He had no idea just how high his vehicle was.

Further investigation among lorry drivers uncovered that very few actually had any idea how high their vehicle was. If drivers see signs but don't believe that they apply to their vehicle then there is clearly no hope.

In order to avoid a major catastrophe when the next lorry tries to drive through, closure of the bar is the only option.

Peter Evely,

Head of network management,

City of York Council,

St Leonard's Place, York.

Updated: 10:20 Friday, June 11, 2004