Traffic congestion here?

There is little traffic congestion in the North York Moors, especially when compared with urban areas. However, traffic is a key issue for two important reasons.

First, this very freedom from dominance of motorised vehicles is a key quality for residents and visitors. Visitors come because of the peace and tranquillity, clean air and the landscape beauty. If increased traffic threatened those special qualities it would threaten the tourism industry which is now the largest single employer in the area and earns over £118 million for the local economy.

Secondly, we should not be complacent. Traffic forecasts made by the Department of Transport suggest overall growth of between 83% and 142% in vehicle kilometres by the year 2025. Research for the Countryside Commission has suggested that because there is little spare capacity on urban roads a higher proportion of this growth could occur in rural areas. (Traffic growth at least equivalent to this has been encountered in Goathland in the wake of TV's Heartbeat programme. The result for that village has been what many local people consider to be 'the destruction of the village' or at least its urbanisation with yellow lines, signs, loss of privacy and many other negative impacts.)

If this increase - or even a lesser figure - were to occur in the North York Moors, it would cause physical damage (destruction of verges, land permanently taken for car parking and road widening), loss of peace and tranquillity, dangerous roads, loss of air quality, noise and other social and environmental effects.