Misery of the rat-runs

When first unveiled by city council bosses, it attracted scorn. But since then, residents on rat-runs have seen the bollard's potential as a harbinger of peace, and its popularity has risen.

Recently, at householders' request, a bollard was installed giving them exclusive access through Victoria Bar.

And now Heslington Lane residents are asking for a bollard. They say traffic along the road is causing noise and air pollution, damaging their homes and posing a threat to pedestrians.

This is a familiar refrain across Britain. This week Transport 2000 launched a search to find the nation's worst rat-runs. Its preliminary research suggests that as many as 30,000 streets may now be rat-runs, eroding the quality of life for all who live nearby.

As with the mobile phone debate, this is a conundrum of our age. We want the freedom to use our phones and our cars whenever and wherever we like. But none of us wants a telecommunications mast in the back yard, or a busy road out front.

The people of Heslington Lane believe a rising bollard is the solution to their traffic misery, and have launched an impressive campaign to get one. But this is not the answer.

Use of the bollard should be limited to enforcing timed restrictions on city centre roads and to very specific cases where small backstreets are made unsafe by rat-running.

If the council starts to place bollards on bigger streets such as Heslington Lane, then we are in danger of closing large parts of the city to traffic. And stopping one rat-run only creates another.

Then there are the financial implications. A taxpayer who has helped to fund public roads should retain the right to use them.

We sympathise with Heslington Lane's residents. But we should be looking for more imaginative solutions than simply turning streets into no-go zones for all but the privileged few.

Updated: 10:35 Wednesday, April 09, 2003