Sport should take back seat to work and manufacturing

IT was no surprise to read the front page about cyclists being killed and injured (The Yorkshire Post, August 8) and the old adage of “putting the cart before the horse” came to mind.

One has no doubt that the Grand Départ was a fine spectacle, and also gave encouragement for people to get on their bikes.

However, we then read of a £21m cycle road being constructed that should be completed in a few months, and that our roads in Yorkshire are unfit for cyclists.

Apparently the roads in Yorkshire that have been neglected will cost tens of millions of pounds over the next few years to put right.

Were the organisers of the Grand Départ hoping the money spent by the tourists would pay for the new cycle road?

I don’t wish to be a Victor Meldrew-type but it appears, for better or for worse, that sport seems to have pride of place on our agenda, followed by art and tourism.

Will these get the numbers of unemployed and underpaid people a better standard of living?

When will work and manufacturing take pride of place? Will all these sporting activities and the hoped-for tourists fill our woefully empty coffers, empty pockets and in some cases, empty stomachs?

Being 81 years of age, I’m afraid sports would no longer make me a living, apart from maybe the sport of kings.

From: Dave Horner, Cottingham, Hull.

THERE is an ever growing problem of potholes across the country which needs to be addressed before the onset of winter weather makes even bigger holes in our road 
network.

We were on holiday in British Columbia in 1995 and watched a road resurfacing machine deal with a length of road, one carriageway width at a time. What was remarkable was this machine had three or four workmen only attending to its machinery. It scooped up the top surface, ground it down, coated it again with bitumen, or Tarmac-type substance, and re-laid the surface all in one machine, no trucks needed, just a guidance team to make sure it stayed on the laser guided route planned for that day.

No great traffic queues, no road cones needed, and what a great idea seen in action. Almost 20 years, on we are still grumbling in this country on how to get the job done. Take a leaf out of the Canadian system.