It can’t stay the same forever – our town has to modernise
✒ DESPITE much negative press recently, I am personally in favour of the recent trial closure of Boots Corner.
It always seemed a bit outdated to me having a major road going straight through the centre of town, and the change has meant that it is a lot more pleasant to walk or cycle through town.
Gone are the days when there was a mad scramble to rush across to the lower High Street in about three seconds before the traffic lights changed, and this strikes me as for the better.
The town can’t stay the same forever – we need to adapt and modernise to what is happening in real time.
Bad air pollution in town was reported as being caused by “vehicular activity within the town centre” by council reports last year, and reducing the number of cars in town surely can only be a good thing for our respiratory health?
Robert Birch Cheltenham
✒ THE closure of Boots Corner is a fantastic opportunity to create a beautiful public space right in the heart of the town.
Cheltenham is rightly renowned for it’s architecture, parks and tree-lined avenues.
The area around Boots Corner is currently a traffic-choked, dual-carriageway that hardly encourages anyone to linger near.
Most dash across the road and continue on their way, however, with thoughtful landscaping, it has the potential to be transformed into an urban space that will be a magnet for locals, visitor and shoppers, just as the nearby Prom is now.
Cheltonians who support sustainable transport and want to continue improving our town so it remains a beautiful place to live and visit should support the long-term vision and give the closure a chance to succeed.
Dan Harte Cheltenham
✒ I MOVED to Cheltenham relatively recently, so the publication of a set of street names which are to be denied of traffic has been meaningless, and I have not seen a single, clear street map indicating the various routes which one might take to avoid Boots Corner. Seems like an obvious information tool and an opportunity missed.
It raises further questions. Has a survey of cars passing through Boots Corner ever been taken?
Are people trying to get into town or trying to get out?
On the occasions I have observed cars flowing through, it seemed very obvious that most were in fact trying to get out of town.
That information might put an end to traders indicating their business has deteriorated because of the Boots Corner closure. Has any consideration been given to the cars that are now forced outwards to the ring road ?
They have to pass through five sets of traffic lights, all uncoordinated, resulting in a total snarl-up of the system.
The area close to Matalan is a traffic nightmare. What efforts are going to be made to make this central Cheltenham avoidance route a reasonable pleasure to drive? Surely that must have been taken into consideration when the closure was planned?
What I will say is that the relative quiet (and presumably the reduction in pollution) of Boots Corner now is a great improvement. Just like the plan in Cirencester, its giving the town back to its citizens
John D. Warren Cheltenham