Speed humps don't work

Published on 24th April 2008 in Letters

Sir - Thanks to Goole Town Councillor Shirley Marshall, I am now aware of what a waste of money those bollards in Dunhill Road actually are.

I was also made aware that bollards are merely the forerunners of things to come and there will be installed 'speed humps' between them.

They are even going to install speed humps down Elm Avenue, as well as between the bollards situated in Dunhill Road, Grange Road and Seavy Road.

This snippet of information only served to confirm my fears that those we elected to serve us have lost all sense of reason.

Elm Avenue (for those who don't know) is a cul-de-sac. The installation of speed bumps in such a location seems to me to be a waste of time and money, as well as one of reducing the amount of on-road parking.

Why any council (local or county) would think that the installation of speed bumps down Dunhill Road (one of the most free-flowing roads in the town) was going to do anything other than add to the town's congestion problem is beyond the reasoning of a mere council-tax payer like myself.

I live down a street where speed humps AND a 20mph zone have been in place for a few years now, and I have some bad news for ERYC... they don't slow the traffic down at all, in fact they tend to make the area more dangerous. 4X4/Chelsea Tractors find them no obstacle at all - in fact most drivers simply ignore their presence UNLESS they are a in a vehicle with a low-slung suspension.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to speak at length to the councillor and I never found out who it was that had rubber-stamped such a gross waste of public money in the Town, but the impression I got put ERYC firmly in the frame.

I can't help but wonder just how they justify this expenditure when such roads as the Boothferry Bridge to Barnhill Lane area are in such dire need of resurfacing as to be positively dangerous? Or why they didn't spend the money on bringing the controlled parking zone road markings in Howden up to a legal standard but that is another story.

Why must councils seek to create NEW problems before they see fit to address those problems already in existence? Perhaps we keep voting for the wrong people.

Kevin Owen

Jackson Street,

Goole