WITH regards to the item on traffic calming in Gainsborough Road, in GUARDIAN's July 2 edition.

Of course traffic was travelling at acceptable speeds, there were placards on every lamppost proclaiming: "Slow Down", "Speed Kills" and "Speedcheck In Force" for at least one week before the event, and a policeman in a bright yellow vest, with camera in hand and in plain view for all to see, it would be stupid for anyone to speed faced with all this.

The traffic flow is not always light, especially early morning and early evening when cars race down the road far in excess of the 30mph speed limit.

The official police survey had the average speed at 38mph, now as the vast majority of motorists would heed the numerous placards one wonders what speeds were actually recorded to push the average speed up so high?

The survey also reported 5,000 cars a day using the road yet in the article a police quote stated that traffic was light - 5,000 cars for a residential road, is this right? Some days traffic has been bumper to bumper as Gainsborough Road is used as a short-cut when Chester Road and Wilderspool Causeway are busy. We are also seeing an increase in heavy goods vehicles which are breaking the current weight limit on the estate road.

Traffic calming plans were proposed to be put on a priority list from April and installed later but now has been dropped, the reason being that no one has been killed! The people of this estate should take this into consideration in the next elections. Where is our councillor? Noticeable by his absence whoever he is.

On the other hand maybe the estate should become a council estate and then it may qualify for a calming scheme.

GAINSBOROUGH RESIDENT

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.