‘GRIDLOCK has to be tackled’, ‘Bridge call to ease road nightmare’.

These are two recent headlines acknowledging the unacceptable traffic problems in South Craven, which are not new and have been with us for many years.

A protected corridor which had been in place from the 1950s – which went around Cross Hills and Glusburn – was put in position by the West Yorkshire County Council to allow for future infrastructure requirements, as the volume of traffic from Leeds and West Yorkshire travelling into Lancashire increased.

The volume of traffic has increased many times over, so what does NYCC do? It removes the protected route from its Local Plan as does Craven District Council. This brings to mind the old Yorkshire saying, up the creek without a paddle! This is exactly where we are now. This is NYCC saying to South Craven and Cross Hills there is not a traffic problem!

Without this protected route, any bridge over the railway line would generate much more HGV traffic as it would be quicker and cheaper to use the route, rather than other longer and more expensive ones.

The junction on the A6068 with Holme Lane and the junction of Station Road and the A6068 are unsafe for both pedestrians and road users.

NYCC has looked at a request from our county councillor to provide safer pedestrian and vehicular movements with light-controlled crossings, but the only safety improvement made was another small speed bump at the top of Station Road.

Without a Cross Hills and Glusburn relief road the bridge is pointless, so NYCC needs to deter HGVs in particular from using the road over the level crossing with a weight restriction. This would concentrate the minds of the local highway authorities – including Bradford, Leeds, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and last but not least, our own NYCC.

ROGER NICHOLSON Park Drive, Sutton