Pedestrians are in danger

I am here to tell you that all pedestrians in in all streets in Rye are in great danger. I live in Rope Walk and open my door often to the side of a bus or large lorry parked on the pavement just a foot away from my door in order for another large vehicle to pass coming in the opposite direction. The road is not wide enough for two large vehicles to pass and so they use the pavement on this side of the road as a highway due parking on the other side, even on yellow lines. Pedestrians are pressed flat against my house on the pavement as these buses/ lorries pass brushing their clothing. THIS HAPPENS ALL OVER RYE. The pavements are cracked everywhere due to this. My house shakes as over heavy traffic passes. Rye roads were not designed for such traffic and it should not be allowed to enter the town. Matters have got serious since the creation of the coach park by the railway station. These coaches should not be able to leave via Rope Walk exit. They also now park, especially on a Thursday which is Market Day in Rye, all down one side of the Rye Harbour Road - this is also very dangerous and the police should stop this.

I then see the article “Council’s Pot Hole Vow”! The article suggests that the Council is working hard to sort this problem out. They say it is the severe weather this year. That was their excuse last year! However, the roads were not all sorted out before the bad weather this year and are now in a complete mess. All car owners are complaining about having to have their car tyres checked and cars re-tracked. There will, when the motorbikes, emerge as soon as the weather improves, some fatal accidents when they race about in the Spring and suddenly encounter a pot hole that takes them unexpectedly down to the roads in Australia.

I was a witness at a Highways tribunal last year when thousands of pounds was wasted on pursuing a local lady for advertising her Cafe. Nothing to do with Highways as it turned out! Court hearings everything! The lady received justice and compensation in the end. However, not before thousands of pounds had been wasted by the Highways. This money would have gone a long way to repairing our roads.

I have asked that Rope Walk be repaired. They have come two or three times and plonked a bucket of tarmac down only for it to be swiftly thrown out again by the over heavy traffic along this road. What a waste of time and money! Do the job properly just the once. When I call the Highways Department, as they suggest in your article that we do, they say that it will not be done soon as they do not have the funds. Do not waste it then on matters that do not concern Highways and what are they doing with the money? We are paying the highest taxes ever now in this Country so where is the money going? We should all refuse to pay the element of tax that goes to Highways until the roads have been repaired.

Lesley Taylor, Rope Walk, Rye