SINCE I announced my intention to stand as a candidate in the Exeter City Council election in St James next May, people have been asking me for my views on the current traffic proposals which will have a significant impact on the St James ward and its residents. Quite simply, I am opposed to these plans and I am urging Devon County Council, as the highways authority, to reject them.

These proposals, on which the county and city councils have been consulting recently, include making the stretch of New North Road one way between its junctions with Longbrook Street and Sidwell Street (by the John Lewis building). This will prevent traffic from turning left, as it currently does, into Sidwell Street.

This traffic will of course not go away. Instead the majority of it is likely to be routed along either Blackall Road or Longbrook Street, both of which are residential streets. The parking on both sides of part of Blackall Road sometimes restricts traffic to one lane, so it makes no sense to increase the traffic flow here.

Then this traffic is likely to go along York Road, an already busy road which can suffer from gridlock in busy times and in which the county council has only recently installed severe traffic humps. The road contains a primary school, a mosque and a church, in addition to which on Exeter City FC home game days there is extra pedestrian and vehicular traffic. This road should not be expected to carry even more traffic.

The highways plans are designed to improve the situation on Sidwell Street and Cheeke Street. Whilst they will undoubtedly do this, the price that would be paid by residents of St James is too high. As I see it, there are four main options:

1. The current proposals, which I believe should be rejected for the above reasons.

2. The current proposals, amended to include making King William Street two-way. While this is preferable to option 1, it is likely to cause a serious bottleneck at the junction with York Road and Well Street.

3. Return Paris Street to two-way traffic. This will ease the pressure on Sidwell Street and Well Street, without the damage to St James. However, I doubt that the county council is likely to reverse its earlier decision to make Paris Street one way.

4. The status quo, which would not make the situation worse for anyone and most importantly, would avoid the unnecessary spending of a large amount of public money at a time when both the county and city councils are having to cut services.

I favour option 4, unless somebody can come up with a better idea.

Keith Owen

Thornton Hill, Exeter