Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to [email protected].
“Why can’t we have more speed limit signs up?”
The accident (featured in the Stray Ferret) is just one of many to come. I have been trying for the last 3 years to make the police in Harrogate, plus the Harrogate council, know of the massive problem with people speeding in this town.
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“Time people in favour of the Gateway plan came forward”
The question is often asked, “How should we reduce the vehicle traffic in Harrogate Town Centre?”. To me that is the wrong question. The real question is how can we reduce all vehicle traffic? We need to reduce vehicle traffic everywhere.
We need to travel less. Less journeys. Shorter journeys. And shift towards busses, trains, cycling and walking.
Why? Well because with a bigger population and increasing traffic we are polluting the global atmosphere and causing climate change.
The Gateway plan is something I welcome. It’s time that views in favour came forward, and I think there are plenty of reasons to favour the Gateway proposals. It will bring the centre of Harrogate back to being pleasant. Pleasant to walk, pleasant to cycle and pleasant to shop.
As a Knaresborough lad my first memories of Station Parade were being intrigued by the big statue. I was five years old, and my eldest brother carefully explained who Queen Victoria was and why her statue was there. There was two-way traffic then, it was 1959, but there was not a lot of traffic. It was a nice place to be. Another memory was in the late sixties and I was cycling as a young teenager. By then there was more traffic and the car was king.
Move forward through the nineteen nineties and the two lanes in one direction were becoming like a race-track, with pedestrians at various places waiting to cross. Not a nice place at all. So the thought of a single lane, one-way for drivers in Station Parade is very pleasant. No more cut and thrust with cars accelerating to stop the car alongside from getting past.
Being able to cycle either way will be pleasant, and with bus and railway stations being so close there will be so many ways to arrive at this pleasant area. With no traffic on James Street it will also become a pleasant area to wander, with more shops to browse and buy. This certainly seems the way forward to me, and should benefit everyone.
Andrew Willoughby, Knaresborough
‘We need to plan for a largely care free future’
Just wanted to say how much I support the comments made in the letter last week regarding the Station Gateway redevelopment and the potential for change it represents.
I continue to be amazed at the volume and speed of traffic in and around the town. We need prominent speed signs, a 20mph town wide zone, speed enforcement cameras and many more pedestrian controlled crossings.
We need to plan for a largely car free future with more reliance on public transport, cycling and walking.
Peter Whittingham, Harrogate
Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at [email protected]. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.
