I WAS disturbed to read Ray Hill's ill-informed outburst about the improved crossing at Sainsbury's.

Had he bothered to watch it at work, he would have realized that it is a lifeline for cyclists, who otherwise have no way of getting between the millennium bridge and the city centre across this widest and fastest section of the one-way system.

All his other observations are mistaken as well. His story about the taxi meter is absurd; taxis here charge by distance, not time. The new crossing arrangement creates much more space and convenience for pedestrians - many of whom are also, of course, motorists.

The only trouble is that it doesn't go nearly far enough. Bizarrely, the only legal place you can cycle after getting across Cable Street is back onto the one-way system! Not only has Church Street recently been closed to cyclists (though not to four-wheeled cash machine crawlers), but thanks to the council's baffling refusal to extend the contra-flow lane up North Road, you cannot even cycle as far as the city centre bike racks.

The bridge is wonderful, but can we now please have a bit more joined-up thinking about transport from people like Ray Hill, and from our councillors?

Robert Poole

r.poole@ucsm.ac.uk

St Martin's College

Lancaster