WHEN the closure of Top Lane junction at Copmanthorpe was first mooted, local members of the national pedal cyclists organisation the Cyclists' Touring Club joined in to lobby the Highways Agency for a lightweight bridge over the A64 ('Don't do it', September 16).

This would have also been useful to ramblers, golfers and dog-walkers.

The Highways Agency took the view that "not enough people" would use a new bridge.

This was based upon the small numbers of residents who gambled their way across the existing A64, rather than the potential number of users who would cross if a bridge were built.

The agency's harsh criteria would only be satisfied if a nearby school or factory generated massive flows of non-motorised travellers.

Also, a bridge would have to satisfy an environmental assessment, to determine whether it would be a blot on the landscape.

However, the horrendous pollution and visual intrusion caused by traffic thundering along the A64 was not considered to be a problem. What a surprise!

In the event, we have got a new side road whose cycle path is only of direct help to those travelling to and from York. However, City of York Council has successfully lobbied for better junction arrangements for cyclists, at Bondhill Ash bridge, than the originally proposed roundabout.

Journey distances to Askham Bog have been effectively doubled for dog- walkers, cyclists and golfers. Small wonder that some try to cross the main A64 more locally.

York's Millennium Bridge shows how much more elegant such structures can be than the awful concrete bridges which cross the A64 elsewhere.

Top Lane would surely be enhanced by such a bridge.

Paul Hepworth,

Windmill Rise, York.

Updated: 10:33 Wednesday, September 18, 2002