A RESIDENT believes the construction of a railway underpass in Royston would make life very dangerous for people living nearby. Peter Ketteringham, of Green Street, was speaking following Doug Drake s appeal in The Crow last week for supporters of the

A RESIDENT believes the construction of a railway underpass in Royston would make life "very dangerous" for people living nearby.

Peter Ketteringham, of Green Street, was speaking following Doug Drake's appeal in The Crow last week for supporters of the underpass, planned for Coombes Hole, to come forward ahead of a public inquiry which is likely to be held in the New Year.

He said: "Mr Drake seems to be mounting a concerted campaign for an underpass at any cost, but nobody wants to talk about the real concern and issue, which is the cycle track.

"When I take my car out of my home, in Green Street, I will be reversing right across the cycle track, which will have cyclists whizzing along it in both directions, it's going to be a very, very dangerous situation.

"The allotment holders wanting to access their plots in their cars will be in the same boat."

The underpass, which will link the Burns Road estate with the rest of Royston, is expected to cost around �3.7million, with �700,000 coming from the Lottery-funded Connect2 project, co-ordinated by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.

A stipulation of this project is that the underpass must be part of a wider walking or cycling network.

The public inquiry into the plans is set to take place next year after residents objected to a compulsory purchase order imposed by Hertfordshire County Council, which will see many of them losing parts of their land on a temporary or permanent basis.

Mr Ketteringham added: "A lot of people do not want this underpass, and I would encourage them to make their feelings known to Mr Drake or [county councillor] Fiona Hill.