DURING the last few weeks articles and letters have appeared in the Evening Press stating that York is nearing gridlock at certain times of the day and the air quality is poor in some streets.

One solution could be to make the inner ring road one way. Making all the vehicles go clockwise would eliminate the need for traffic lights.

The circuit would be shorter and the detours around Fossbank and Fishergate would become unnecessary.

The other advantage would be that, with all vehicles moving one way, all the time the motion should move the air through the narrower streets and improve the air quality.

Other pluses include deliveries in the narrower streets (Gillygate and Museum Street) and vehicles breaking down would not cause as much trouble, because one lane would be clear. With all buses passing by the station, transferring from one service to another would be easy, and with the available width of the road a bus station could be built.

The city centre could be connected with a shuttle service and the centre could be closed to traffic from 11am until 6pm. The finer points need more work but the idea has merit.

Ian Hartas,

Green Close,

Rawcliffe Drive, York.

...THE York Open Planning Forum met last week to discuss some of the tough choices we are told must be made to deal with increased traffic generated by new development in York.

The lively discussion should contribute towards the council's consultations on the new Local Transport Plan.

Some measures already being considered, or in operation, such as relief roads, Park and Ride, and public transport priority measures such as bus lanes, were accepted.

Other things such as bouncing bollards, restricting parking places in new developments, bus passes and bicycles for potential new residents, were regarded with more scepticism.

Some suggestions put forward by the council's highways officer, Peter Evely, in his Evening Press interview (April 27) such as reducing school runs and changing work patterns, were considered not to be practical.

There was strong resistance to residents being asked to change their behaviour patterns in order to solve problems caused by planning decisions allowing so many large new residential developments in the first place.

A strong argument in favour of congestion charging was put forward and met with a degree of support. There was a general sense that radical measures must be explored if traffic is not to reach unsustainable levels.

There was a consensus that what is needed is a city-wide masterplan to assess the cumulative impact of traffic increases across the city, and to deal with them. There should be a way to determine when enough is enough, and measures to control excesses such as scaling down residential development schemes, should be put in place as a matter of urgency.

Measures are needed before it is too late and the special qualities of our city are damaged beyond repair.

Alison Sinclair,

Chair, York Open Planning Forum,

Norfolk Street,

Bishopthorpe Road,

York.

...IT looks as if York's Ascot week is going to be a traffic nightmare.

Here is a real challenge for the city council to do some joined-up thinking.

Traffic is always reduced while schools are on holiday. Why don't education chiefs arrange for the half-term week to coincide with Ascot week to allow more people to attend the races and reduce inevitable traffic jams?

Would this be too much forward planning?

Liz Brown,

Levisham Street,

York.

Updated: 11:28 Friday, May 07, 2004