Long history of transport failures blight city

THE threat to Hull’s rail communications is nothing new. I have lived here since 1966 and I give a list of items of transport neglect which I can remember:

Ring Road – This was designated in 1965 by the Junior Chamber of Commerce and little has been spent on it since.

Humber Bridge – If this had been left to the Department of Transport, it would never have been built. Why does the southern approach get 10 miles of dual carriageway and the northern approach, which is much more busy, get nothing?

It was left to Humberside County Council to build the road leading north from the bridge and they only built a single carriageway road.

M62 – When the Wilson government announced the route of the M62 it was going to cross the Ouse near Goole and end soon after leaving the rest of the journey to be made on the existing overcrowded single carriageway road.

It was only after strenuous campaigning by our then MP, Sir Patrick Wall, that it was agreed to extend the dual carriageway to the centre of Hull – but a three- lane road was still refused even though the suburban traffic was bound to be more than further out.

Rail – Quite apart from the current situation you have written about (Yorkshire Post, March 5), we were recently told that the plans for trans-Pennine electrification would not be extended to Hull. You can get a direct train from Grimsby to Manchester Airport but not from Hull. Until Hull Trains came along, there was just one direct train a day from Hull to London

I am sure your readers can add more examples to this shameful neglect of England’s 10th largest city. We wonder why unemployment is so high in Hull.