RECENTLY, you have published several letters about the planned new cycle lanes in Castle Lane, some in favour and others more uncertain.

As the cabinet member responsible for Bournemouth’s roads, I am writing to explain why cycle lanes are becoming increasingly necessary.

It is wonderful that our town is successful and growing.

Businesses are opening and more and more people are choosing to make their lives here with their families.

This, of course, means more schools are needed and creates more traffic on our roads.

A lot of traffic is generated by taking children to school in the mornings and in the Castle Lane West area there are more schools than anywhere else in Bournemouth.

The past couple of weeks, when the children have been on holiday, we have noticed a marked decrease in the morning rush hour traffic and the time it takes to get to work.

Once the schools are back after Easter, we all know that the situation will worsen and we’ll need more time to get around in the morning.

Many children – and their parents – would really like the independence of cycling to school rather than being taken by car, but feel they can’t cycle safely on busy Castle Lane West.

There are also many commuters working at the other end of Castle Lane – in the Hospital, Littledown Centre, Tesco, law courts, offices, etc – who might themselves like to cycle, if cycling were safe and easy and they didn’t have to drive their children to school first.

So we are looking at finding safe routes for cyclists, which children and their parents would be confident about using.

We are not proposing to close any roads or to remove any existing traffic lanes, nor to work in Castle Lane East; but we will look carefully at alternative safe routes from homes to schools and workplaces, so that people can choose the healthy option to walk or cycle.

This careful approach, taken by experienced traffic officers, should be applauded as it is for the benefit of everyone using busy Castle Lane.

CLLR MICHAEL FILER, Bournemouth Borough Council