IT IS WELL known that the leaders in the No Heysham Access campaign live in Lancaster, are often single and have no car (Hilton no doubt changes his car frequently!).
What may have escaped some people's notice is that many of those favouring the Northern Ring Road (including Madam Mayor) live up the Lune Valley.
These Lune Valley residents have no problem with M6 access and have several country lanes to get them to university, hospital and the like. The only time they face Lancaster's traffic chaos is when they wish to go to Salt Ayre, Asda, Weekes, Matalan, etc., or even the promenade. The Northern Ring road will solve this problem for them; no surprise then that they support it. The Western city access road will only help them by reducing the traffic chaos generally - it will not give them a five-minute run to White Lund.
Forgetting these lucky few, what do the two routes offer us? Both routes will give fast M6 access to Heysham, Morecambe and White Lund. The Northern Ring will also give fast M6 access to those up the A6 north of Lancaster. But the Western city access road will also relieve chaos generally and thus also aid these A6 north residents to reach the M6. What about traffic to the university - our biggest generator of commuter traffic? The Western city access road, with a direct university link, is the obvious winner for this. But it is likely to place pressure on Hasty Brow and Torrisholme streets when those from northern villages travel to oin it at Morecambe Road. A short road alongside the college of education would help with this.
The Northern Ring would also take the university traffic via the M6 - including that from the north A6 villages, but with a big traffic increase in Galgate.
A further benefit of the Northern Ring will be to relieve Torrisholme and Hasty Brow of the traffic from the north to White Lund and Heysham.
So what's left? What's left is access to and from the Lune Industrial Estate, the expanding hospital, St Martin's College, the Town Hall and city centre generally. This is where the Western city access road - with links at St George's Quay, and through the valley below Haverbreaks to Ashton Road, wins out. The only benefit that the Northern Ring will give to these employment honey pots is to reduce general traffic levels.
The Western city Access Road will open up this west side of the city. Walking distance housing can be provided along the spurs and take pressure off the valuable canal corridor land in the city centre. This, together with allowing Galgate to become a village once more, make the Western city access road the first choice for Lancaster's economic progress and environmental regeneration.
Michael Jackson
Hest Bank Lodge
Lancaster
PS When we will get to know the route and cost of the proposed Dawson/Whitelegg piggyback train from the M6 at Carnforth to Heysham Docks?
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