Editor;
I just read your article on the upcoming beach road beautification and I am frankly shocked. My initial thoughts on reading the heading were that the long awaited beach regeneration was to finally go ahead. But no, as that budget is not yet approved. Instead the plan is to further reduce the beach / promenade area by building an extra road lane as well as planting a few trees, touching up the paintwork and making the beach vendors buy new umbrellas again so they are all the same colour.
This should be the prime tourist area and why anyone would want more vehicles in that area is beyond me. Hasn’t the success of walking street taught anyone in city hall anything? Tourists and locals alike prefer to walk in a safe, car free area, not along a 4 lane highway with narrow pavements. Will there also be 20 sets of traffic lights installed to allow people to cross this 4 lane highway and will they be ignored as happened in the recent past?
If traffic congestion is considered a problem on beach road the fix is easy and has been done for short periods in the past – remove all the motorbike and car rental stations that have taken over the left lane. This allows traffic to flow much better and frees up much needed parking space.
I also wonder how long it will be before this new road will be turned into a permanent market area. Any bets?
Scottish George
