RESTRICTING York's northern ring road to a single carriageway was one of the biggest planning blunders in recent memory. From the moment it opened, the A1237 was inadequate.

Today, it is a miracle if motorists travelling along the busiest stretch around Clifton Moor do not encounter jams. This is more than just deeply frustrating, it is bad for business. Every hour spent crawling around the ring road is a waste of time and money.

It is also bad for central York. A new report reveals that more than a third of traffic coming into the centre is there on a cross-city journey, as drivers attempt to avoid ring road jams.

This is madness. Every effort York has made to keep traffic away from its ancient streets is now undermined by an insufficient modern infrastructure.

The answer is to double the capacity of the single carriageway, so the outer ring road is dualled all the way around. That is high up on the Road Haulage Association's wish list, as well as being a priority for most local motorists.

Opponents to this idea have already lost the argument. Once planners approved out-of-town shopping parks such as Clifton Moor, any hope that ring road traffic levels could be seriously reduced was dashed.

City of York Council leader Coun Steve Galloway said today that selective dualling might be the answer. But any road which combines short bursts of higher speed dual carriageway followed by slower single carriageway is lethal, as we have seen on the A64.

The funding may not be available to dual the whole road at once. That, however, should be the ultimate plan. Until York has the outer ring road it always needed, the effectiveness of other traffic-busting measures, such as Park&Ride, will be impaired.

Updated: 10:19 Tuesday, October 14, 2003