GOOD luck to the campaigners for a station at Elland (Examiner, May 8).

My hunch is it would be well used and take traffic off the roads – just as a station for Golcar/Milnsbridge would.

What’s more the money is there, in the shape of the Government’s New Station Fund.

Funding for three new stations was recently announced, though none of them were in the North.

We should do more to support local as well as long distance and high-speed rail.

Clr Paul Salveson

Labour, Golcar Ward

Residents’ concerns

THERE may be many advocates for the new development at Springwood car park, but I am sure many of them would take a different view if they happened to live in the Springwood area.

The residents on Spring Grove Street have always had to tolerate inadequate and restricted parking.

The car parks on both sides of Merton Street, in my view, have just been used as cash cows for Kirklees Council.

The green areas surrounding the car parks have received little, if any, maintenance at all, making the areas look run down.

The whole project is bad news for the business community in the town centre.

Many motorists have an aversion to using multi storey car parks, and it’s a long walk to the town centre from Cambridge Road.

It is my belief that Kirklees Council has nothing but contempt for residents in the Springwood areas and now we face two years of noise and inconvenience.

Anthony Smith

Springwood

Coincidence maybe?

Twenty three million pounds for road repairs (Examiner May 8)?

Notice that the majority are due for the Holme Valley, coincidentally on the route of the Tour de France, or am I being cynical?

Graham Beaumont

Newsome

Get rid of the humps

I TOTALLY agree with Arthur Quarmby’s letter (Examiner, May 7) ‘Why must all Kirklees’ drivers travel in a queue’.

I have complained regarding many items of road markings – joint junction, merge signs, humps etc.

Kirklees Highways have a knack of creating queues.

Highways seem hell bent on putting road humps on alternate routes calling them rat runs for example.

Alder Street which was a relief road for Bradford Road now has many humps thus drivers are forced into using the main routes causing havoc at peak periods.

Come on Highways. Many authorities have stopped doing the dreaded humps and in some cases they are removing them.

SH

Sheepridge

Seeing red on queuing

I CAN shed some light on why Arthur Quarmby feels held up by every traffic light in Kirklees (Mailbag, May 7).

Some years ago Kirklees (along with other West Yorkshire councils) introduced at certain junctions a system called “quiescent red”.

How this works is that during periods when a junction is unused by pedestrians or vehicles for a certain length of time all the traffic lights and pedestrian crossings go to red.

Theoretically when a vehicle approaches at or below the speed limit the lights change to green in time to progress without delay – in practice of course this doesn’t happen and traffic is delayed unnecessarily, even at 2am.

One example of this system is the lights on Manchester Road at Linthwaite, another is on Wakefield Road by Lloyds Bank at Copley in Halifax. There are presumably scores of others throughout the county.

One would have thought that the logical way to treat a junction would be to leave the lights at green for the road most used, ie the through route.

But no – according to Kirklees Highways this system is an “accident prevention measure” and “improves safety for all road users”.

I asked a Kirklees highways engineer if he could identify even a hypothetical example of how a junction completely devoid of traffic and pedestrians could be perceived as dangerous – he admitted he couldn’t.

I asked the same question of Calderdale Council several weeks ago – they still haven’t replied.

I conclude that the quiescent red system is nothing more than yet another outrageous anti-car device.

The situation will not be improved one bit if (when!) the bureaucratic West Yorkshire Transport Fund comes into existence.

Richard Huddleston

West Slaithwaite

Worth saving?

WE SPENT an interesting afternoon at the workhouse in Southwell yesterday.

It reminded me that Huddersfield has a workhouse.

It was built in the 1860s and was used as a hospital for many years after that, St Luke’s Hospital, Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor.

It was closed a few years ago and has been unoccupied ever since. It is now in a sorry state of repair.

It has now been earmarked for demolition.

I find it incredible that such an iconic and historic building will soon disappear.

Surely the public of Huddersfield ought to be able to save it?

DC

Huddersfield

Why this dog ban?

I WISH to reply to the article about taxi companies refusing to take dogs (Examiner, May 8).

I have two King Charles spaniels and I recently rang round several taxi firms in Huddersfield and as soon as I mentioned I needed to get my dog to the vets I was told bluntly that they wouldn't take us.

I asked them what was I meant to do as it was an emergency but they could not offer any reasonable explanation why they wouldn't take us.

They just said no taxi firm in Kirklees would transport animals. I eventually was told of one taxi firm who would probably take my pet but what a farce it was!

They made the whole experience stressful for myself and my pet.

It’s appalling to think there are many pet owners stranded with no way to get their dog to the vets. Shame on you taxi firms.

Angry dog owner

Huddersfield