Markyate in Action
part of the old Watling Street, and the London to Birmingham The narrow high street of Markyate in Hertfordshire forms main road runs along It for about a mile and a quarter. Heavy traffic scrapes along a street barely wide enough to hold it. often brushing the walls of the houses over a footpath no more than two feet three inches wide. The inhabitants of Markyato do not like sleeping in their front rooms. Apart from the noise, there is always the risk of a heavy lorry crashing through the wall. In the last year the police have brought seventy-one summonses against drivers for speeding in this stretch of road, but in the same period there have been four serious accidents. one fatal. Small wonder that the inhabitants of Markyate have decided to impose their own speed limit until a by-pass is built. Their methods--loudspeaker appeals. posters, signs, and so on —may not be official,' but they are at least more effective than the shadow-boxing with the idea of a by-pass which has been going on at the Ministry of Transport and in the com- mittees of the Hertfordshire County Council ever since 1940. Over fourteen years have passed since it was decided to build this mile and a, quarter of road, and, though the war may account for some of that time, oflicial delays and lack of a sense of urgency account for far more of it. FOr the case of Markyate is typical of the dilatory tactics pursued generally over the roads. Road traffic in and out of London, for example, faces what might well become a break-down. In this situation how inadequate Mr. Boyd-Carpenter's plans for new roads appear.
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