SIR – Since the construction of the Airedale Shipley Road in the late 1990s, the bottom of Bolton Road has been a bus gate and taxi lane only. That was to restrict traffic crossing the construction sites and to retain bus services through on Bolton Road. That was understandable then.

That ‘gate’ was, and still is, for the small section of the above road from either direction but only across the Airedale Shipley Road. This still appertains today, some two decades later. The gate is little used, as only bus services and a few taxis use it.

I could never understand why this had to continue, it simply channels traffic on to other minor side roads and equally so to other major roads, when Bolton Road is in fact a major road leading to and from the city centre. Church Bank was also similarly restricted but has now been changed, which has eased traffic somewhat.

With the advent of Westfield, both with regards to construction traffic and when open for ease of access, perhaps the restrictions on Bolton Road should now be permanently lifted too. This would ease congestion both on side roads and Church Bank and Canal Road, too, splitting and sharing both those roads’ traffic volumes.

Ian Jayne, Willowfield Crescent, Bradford