'Cycle lane at Evening Hill has improved traffic flow'

ONE completely unreported benefit of the Evening Hill cycle lane is the improved traffic flow for vehicular traffic.

The previous parking spaces were extremely dangerous as they made the road far too narrow for today's much wider cars, and there was the ever present threat of being "doored" by one of the parked cars as the driver got out whilst you were trying to drive past. As a result cars would slow down to dead slow stop to be able to check if there was anyone in the parked cars as they passed them if traffic was heavy coming in the other direction, as it frequently is.

Parking up the steep north side of Haven Road was suspended for the Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride recently. This should be a permanent arrangement with similar wanded lane as that on Evening Hill being provided.

Hopefully Canford Cliffs councillors can get behind this given how many of their residents or their loved ones enjoy cycling around this ward to the beaches, harbour, local shops and cliffs. In the summer giving cyclists some protection on dangerous parts of the roads can help everyone by leaving more space on the roads as well as parking spaces for remaining cars.

It is also proved that increasing cyclists and pedestrians in an area improves security. This is because cyclists and pedestrians get a much better view of street crime, so act as a good deterrent because if there is one thing criminals don't like, it is an audience! CCTV and ring doorbells are all very well but there's no substitute for alert passers by. So Haven Road could certainly so with a decent road crossing at that point too. And a few hedges cut back would also help encourage walking rather than driving for short journeys.

Evening Hill is also well overdue a protected lane on the other side of the road, which could easily be achieved by making it one way for vehicles.

What put Sandbanks ahead of the rest of BCP's entire coast was the early introduction of cycle lanes. Hamworthy's wide cycle and pedestrian path along the railway track behind Norden Way linking Poole Quay to Hamworthy Park is now having the same effect of bringing money into the area for building so that some are calling it 'Hambanks'.

Basically, follow the bikes, follow the money. If you want jobs and prosperity, get behind cycle infrastructure. It's the only way to get people spending more in local shops,pubs and cafes, reducing crime and improving public health in one fell swoop. More please.

Susan Stockwell

Britannia Road,

Poole