WHAT a load of fuss is being made about the central 6 street plans.

There really isn’t anything novel or controversial about low traffic neighbourhoods.

It has been conventional town planning for the past half century.

All modern residential development is designed from the outset to exclude through traffic so that most of residents of the outer areas of the town live on cul-de-sacs and enjoy a clean, safe, low traffic environment.

These are popular places to live and absolutely nobody is demanding that their local streets be connected up to provide short cuts for rat runners trying to jump the queues on the main roads.

All these proposals are doing is providing the same benefits to residents of the older central areas that people living in modern developments take for granted.

It is a shame that a scheme carefully drawn up following a prolonged consultation with local residents has been hurriedly dropped following a week of noisy protest.

Of course opposition is to be expected from the rat-runners the scheme was designed to protect the residents from.

Sadly, the people of Orford, many who live in terraced houses with front doors opening onto narrow streets, will continue to have to suffer the pollution, noise and danger caused by through traffic using inappropriate routes.

PETE OWENS Stockton Heath

AS a resident of Orford and living on one of the ‘rat runs’ I believe that there is a simple solution to the problem.

All that needs to be done is to enforce existing, long standing, traffic restrictions on Smith Drive and Withers Avenue.

That is where the majority of vehicles running through Orford seem to be heading for and then totally ignore the access only signage.

The obvious solution would be to fit the ANPR cameras there and enforce the existing regulations which in turn would reduce traffic without the need for a bus gate or modal filters. ROB KENYON Warrington

THE new Westy road plan is going to make things considerably more dangerous around here.

My road (Broadbent Avenue) is now going to be an access road to the zone, reversing the one-way from Kingsway South.

The road (Broadbent Avenue) is not at all suitable for this purpose.

It is one of the narrowest roads in Westy, with narrow pavements and double parked cars and quite a few vans.

I have measured it, you cannot fit a fire engine down this road, some average sized cars even struggle.

Grange Avenue and Reynolds Street are both over double the width and in the case of Grange Avenue only houses on one side for the majority of the length of it, yet these have not been used and are to be blocked off from the zone.

Grange and Reynolds would be much better options, but to be honest the best option would be to simply remove the one-way from Reynolds Street, giving a two-way access into and out of Westy from both main roads.

As a resident since 2012 I can wholeheartedly report that there is no ‘rat run’ here. We have no problems in Westy with traffic.

The two main roads move well enough and are busy due to the location.

Adding a mandatory lap round the lights for anyone crossing Westy or simply trying to access these zones isn’t going to help that issue.

The lights by Lidl are frequently busy and now adding to that we have cars trying to cross Westy instead of using Grange Avenue, never mind any issues caused by the swing bridge.

Latchford/Westy main road is busy yes, but it still moves.

Everybody has signs in their windows protesting this.

None of the residents here want this.

You don’t need an 18-month trial to understand the issues here, you simply need to visit these roads and see for yourself.

For the record I do not drive or own a car, I generally walk and cycle.

PHIL MOSELEY Warrington

AFTER reading the four-page letter of repeated waffle sent out by Cllr Russ Bowden it seems clear that the council are determined to proceed with the badly ‘thought out’ Orford access restrictions despite the huge protests.

Cllr Bowden states that they have spent four years debating and having discussions with ‘thousands of residents’ who will be affected and goes on to state that the council has only heard more from local residents as the plans were brought close to being rolled out.

Well perhaps that was because the first that residents knew about it was when it appeared in the Warrington Guardian after the warning signposts had been placed at the ends of the affected roads.

So who exactly were the ‘thousands of residents’ that were involved in the discussions because I haven’t yet found anyone.

Hallfields Road is the most direct route to get from our end of Long Lane to our relations in Norris Street and Gorsey Lane, a distance of approx half a mile.

So how on earth can it be less polluting for me to to have to drive down Long Lane to Winwick Road, then turn into Longford Street, then down Orford Avenue which is always congested with parked cars on either side of the avenue, then into Norris Street.

This would entail a journey of approximately two miles while having to stop at six sets of traffic lights.

As an 86-year-old pensioner who struggles to walk even with a walking stick don’t expect me to use a bike, as you suggest in your letter.

Your proposals will involve making more traffic use Long Lane which is already so heavily congested that we struggle to leave our driveway at certain times of the day.

I, along with many other residents, would urge the council to drop this badly thought out idea before it is too late.

JACK COX Warrington