The Kingsworthy Link - Trust Annual Report 1969
The year 1969 sees the completion of the by-pass which will bring relief at long last to the crowded streets of Winchester. Citizens have noted with alarm the ever-increasing size of lorries bound for the continent forcing their way through City Road, Jewry Street and Southgate Street, polluting the atmosphere and thundering past the houses, offices and shops with enough clatter to make life intolerable for those who have to live and work by this route. Why do so many of these monsters have exhaust pipes which blow their noxious fumes across the pavements?
Improvements which just tinker with the traffic problems and are really short term palliatives, may do as much harm as good. None of these monsters would be able to get through Winchester if the old George and the Black Swan were still standing. They would not be able to turn the corners which might have been designed by our ancestors for the particular purpose of keeping those juggernauts at bay.
Even with these "improvements" one monster was seen recently to use the wrong side of the road and mount the pavements twice, while other luckless road users were held up on all four roads. What route would these lorries have used if there had been no road widening? It is certain that Winchester would have been quieter for some years, though local motorists and residents would have found it difficult to get about.
For those who do not remember the Black Swan, a photograph was shown recently in the Public Library together with many other interesting views from sixty or more years ago.
It is unlikely, however, that through heavy traffic can be completely banned for some months yet, but in the meantime the existence of the alternative has brought relief which should continue until the old by-pass proves inadequate to meet the new demands.