Make the York–Scarborough rail service half-hourly to ease A64 congestion - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Dr David Pendleton, Filey.

In a recent letter, Peter Neal raised the much-debated conversion of the A64 between York and the coast into a dual carriageway. Whilst there are compelling reasons to dual the road as far as Malton, many coastal residents will also be aware of the overwhelming amount of traffic that arrives on any given sunny day.

A serious proposal to dual the A64 would have to include traffic management in the towns on the coast. New roads inevitably attract more traffic. The impact on the villages the A64 passes through after Malton, the choke points on the approaches to the coastal town centres, and protecting residential streets from being used as free car parks would need to be thought through before an inch of extra tarmac is laid.

In my humble opinion, making the York–Scarborough rail service half-hourly should be the priority for helping to ease coast-bound traffic and boost the local economy. Whilst this has been on the table for almost as long as the dual carriageway proposals, it would represent a cheaper and much more realistic option.

Of course, dualling the A64 and improving the rail service would be ideal, but experience suggests that is unlikely. I do hope that our MPs, North Yorkshire Council and the Mayor can work together to finally give the coast this modest, but much-needed, boost to our rail services.