Recently two letters have been published demanding bold transport solutions for Crewe.

One for a fly-over and wider roads, the other for multi-storey car parking at Leighton Hospital. The answer to congestion and parking problems is not to build more roads and car parks and flys in the face of research undertaken.

In the past 30 years, journeys of under half a mile made by car have increased by almost 400 per cent. Design of recent housing developments has largely ignored cyclists/pedestrians and focused on traffic, so too have Town Planners. As a result, roads are grid–locked, journey times increased and air quality worsened.

New developments on Parkers Road and the Cross Keys will bring 11,000 extra vehicles onto roads. CEC is spending millions widening the Sydney Road rail bridge, making it easier to use cars for short trips. 68 per cent of people interviewed in Crewe and Nantwich said they would cycle short journeys to work and shops provided it was safe to do so.

This would free up the existing road network and make Crewe a more liveable town that attracts high quality businesses.

A more realistic solution might be to build a segregated cycling infrastructure across the town, linking the railway station, hospital, business park, MMU and town centre together. The problem is that people want to open their front door, get straight into their car and to arrive as close to the front door of their chosen destination as possible.

Crewe has the highest obesity rates in the authority, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are all linked to sedentary life styles.

Bold solutions are needed and quickly, but we need leaders with vision and courage, not Councillors chasing the popular vote.

It’s about time we all started to make wiser travel choices.

Paul Wade Chair, ACTive Travel Campaign