Traffic Creates pollution dangers ??!!

Submitted by e2toe4

on Thu, 03/01/2012 - 12:37

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE!!! Council realise traffic created pollution is a health hazard!!

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/death-rates-prompt-new-traffic-plans.16877850

You just couldn't make it up!!

The City of Edinburgh Council recognise Traffic created pollution is a major health hazard for people who live in the city.

Yet they have spent years fighting against admitting this and right now are still fighting against admitting it.

Less than a mile and a half from the area on the South side of the Old Town mentioned in the article about which they have suddenly 'discovered ' such alarming facts, the Council themselves are cramming far more traffic through residential areas.

And this is only the first stage of traffic increases that will affect huge areas of the residential neighbourhoods across the city.

The traffic increases will not be temporary as the council continues to maintain and they are goping to happen entirely because of the flaws within the original tram project, now being blindly pushed forward at all costs only so a 'success' can be proclaimed and the whole thing consigned to History.

But as even the Council are being forced to admit--the health effects will not be History as more and more road space is taken away by the tram ...they will only juust be beginning.

This belated racognition of the huge threats from traffic created pollution on human health is obviously a good thing, but enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that the Council continue to avoid any meaningful engagement by residents who have fought for years to have this issue properly debated.

The Council's approach to what to do about the real problems of traffic forced through residential streets is to simply hope it goes away of it's own accord..there is no policiy to tackle it and no will to even admit it because to do so would raise even more questions over the future of their favoured Tram project.

The Council seek to portray people fighting hard to make these issues known as 'anti-tram', but that is a lamentable reaction . The residents are not anti-tram, and indeed the problem is not the 'tram' itself, nor is it the idea of Trams in general; the problem is THIS specific tram project and it's total disregard for the consequences it creates for this specific City..

The project has been a mess, but as these health impacts fully emerge, the future problems have every chance of making the past one seem like a walk in the park by comparison. Nor will the problems be 'History' as the Council hopes, but they will be getting worse and worse.

The truth is that the more they build (on roads) the worse it gets.

It doesn't have to be like this, things can be done, but not until the Council take their heads from the sand and realise the full costs in lives, health and indeed even more money that ploughing on regardless will inevitably bring.

It is particularly poignant that a City still renowned as being one of the cradles of the Age of Enlightenment is probably the only authority in Europe pushing through a project that they KNOW is increasing pollution (by sending traffic down unsuitable streets having forcibly emptied the main thoroughfares) and also creating statistically significant increases in adverse health impacts by ensuring the traffic leaves lightly inhabited roads and makes it's slow and halting way through residential streets.

All governments and local authorities across Europe are struggling with the dawning realisation that traffic created pollution is a larger problem than passive smoking in terms of adverse health outcomes.

They are caught between the desire to tackle the problem and the fear that any action could harm the economy of their cities, towns and countries as road traffic remains a vital part of economic activity (and falling economic activity also has terrible adverse health effects on people of course)----- But only Edinburgh is making things worse than they need to be, by pushing through a n incoherent and flawed Tram plan, that while masquerading as a 'Green Project' is anything but.

This determined policy whose effect is to INCREASE pollution between now and 2026 makes a mockery of suddenly pretending to discover there is a problem that needs to be addressed--- They know there is a problem and have done so for over two years, and they are doing nothing to address it, and on the contrrary are doing everything to make it worse.

Tags:

tram