Letter: A64 danger spots need more lights

I am of an age that I remember when Bramham crossroad was exactly that a crossroads with the old ‘T’ shaped Stop Major Road Ahead sign, so I’m fairly familiar with the A64.

There has been major consultation regarding this road since 1936, the year I was born actually, and since that time the only major improvement has been the upgrading of the A1 (or the Great North Road as it was called) at Bramham plus the extension of the dual carriageway from the A1 to Tadcaster then Tadcaster to the Hopgrove roundabout and of course Malton by-pass.

The simple answer to the tragic deaths at Crambeck and other deaths during the hours of darkness has to be the placing of adequate lighting. The bottom of Whitwell Hill, Flaxton junction most of the major intersections from the Hopgrove to the traffic lights at Staxton are inadequately illuminated. Lights yes but not sufficient for a major road.

There are bus shelters that if any person is waiting during night-time they cannot be seen until the Coastliner is almost on top of the shelter, and the shelter at Scagglethorpe, on the East bound lane, cannot be used as no one would dare to cross the A64 in the dark it’s bad enough during daylight hours; decent lighting would work wonders in those places.

Signs stating to ‘Drive Slowly’ at Heslerton, Ganton etc are not enough to slow 60mph vehicles that are eager to proceed. Why are there no speed limit signs at places such as these?

‘Rumbing strips’ work but they have to be backed up with proper signage, and cameras, if that is what it takes. It may make some motorists frustrated, but we all have a responsibility to other road users.

The A64 is a major trunk road and has been since it was built, it’s the only decent link between the East Coast and the A1 and it will never be fully dualled. If traffic lights can be erected at the Hopgrove roundabout, why can’t they be erected at crossroads like Strensall-Stockton-on-Forest, bottom of Whitwell Hill, Staxton junction, Scagglethorpe and others.

The A64 was designed at a time when no-one would have thought that it would become inundated with vehicles, and this is caused primarily by the closure of parts of the rail system. We are stuck with a road system that was fine for horse and carriage but inadequate for modern usage.

Bob Marshall

Elmville Avenue

Scarborough