YP Letters: Blame game over potholes

WARNINGS by local councils that 2017 could be a tipping point for tackling the backlog of pothole repairs comes as no surprise (The Yorkshire Post, January 7).

However, what does come as a major shock, to exacerbate the pothole crisis, is the Government’s own traffic projections that in 23 years time there is a potential increase in local traffic of up to 55 per cent.

Councils, particularly those with highway powers, have long since blamed governments for a complete lack of investment and decades of underfunding, whilst governments have consistently blamed councils for the poor state of our local roads, confirming that the “blame game” will serve only to confuse the electorate who are motorists.

As a cyclist attempting almost on a daily basis to negotiate the ever increasing number and severity of the potholes, I have lost count of the type that could cause injury and damage to most private cars.

From: Mr and Mrs J Lewington, Fawcett Way, Leeds.

WHEN will Leeds City Council repair all the loose pavements in the city centre? The worst area is just outside the St John’s Centre. Outside Subway, my husband had a nasty fall on loose flags just before Christmas; fortunately he was not badly hurt, but at 69 years old it shook him up for a few days.

The loose flags are on both sides of Albion Street and on the corner with the Headrow, in fact all over the city centre.

From: Tony Young, Skipton.

THE analysis of transport and environmental issues by Colin Speakman (The Yorkshire Post, January 9) is an excellent summary of the problems we face locally in Leeds, nationally and worldwide. His conclusion that ‘things will only change when traffic chaos gets so dreadful that politicians will be forced to act and seek radical solutions’ is very sad but true.

He stresses the need for a tram system in Leeds and highlights how using the former tramway reservations in east Leeds could be a quick win.

Why does Leeds City Council seem determined to ignore all the evidence and invest in bus park and ride instead of a proper transit system? Its much-trumpeted plan for a rail connection to Leeds Bradford Airport isn’t actually going there, only a station on the Harrogate line which is a 2km bus ride from the terminal. A tram train to the airport would go all the way and is another option for a Leeds ‘starter’ tram line.

Is there any chance of a change of direction before it is too late?

Breaking the golden rule

From: Angela Gowland, Hull.

WHEN I was at school (1950s) I was taught in English lessons – never start a sentence with and or but. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom (The Yorkshire Post, January 6), did just that eight times!

Failings of the poll tax

From: John Turley, Dronfield Woodhouse.

I AGREE with SP Lowson to a certain extent (The Yorkshire Post, January 9), in so much as the concept of the poll tax, whereby every working person contributed to local government finance, was not such a bad idea in principle. The problem was the failure to link it to ability to pay.