TO recognise a situation as being in need of improvement and then to carry out the improvement, only to wreck the whole project by putting it back as it was, is the action of an imbecile. With the recent changes to the main road between Highnam Roundabout and Over Roundabout having all the motorists seething with anger, it seems the Highways Agency is full of imbeciles.
They wasted all that money on resurfacing the road, installing extra traffic lights, and even introducing a special traffic light controlled bus lane to speed up the journey of the bus. They then went back and deliberately clogged up the flow of traffic by re-painting the hatchings, when the traffic had already been reduced to a crawl by Highnam Roundabout. This act of folly reduced everything to one lane just as it was before. Every penny spent on the project was thereby wasted, with the result that the bus is now delayed instead of speeded up, passengers miss their connections, lorries miss their appointments, children arrive late for school, and motorists arrive last for work.
Highnam Roundabout is to blame for the traffic snarl-up where the A48 meets the A40 because it is too large and occupies too much road space. If the Highways Agency reduced the size of it, they could utilise the space saved to direct the A48 into a separate road from the A40, running parallel with it and separated from it by double white lines as far as the traffic lights at the junction with the B4215. This is as far as the A48 needs to go. Beyond the traffic lights, the A40 would continue on both lanes. By painting out the hatchings in the road which reduce everything to one lane, both lanes would be reopened. The A48 would be the outer lane, the A40 would be the inner lane, and traffic on one lane would not be affected by traffic on the other with the result both lanes of traffic would move freely.
Our newly elected county councillors must now convince the Highways Agency of the need to start work immediately to improve the free flow of traffic into Gloucester. The road tax is so expensive there can be no shortage of money. The motorists have therefore paid in advance for the work to be done. I trust the county councillors will commence negotiations with the Highways Agency today. The sooner work starts the sooner it will be finished. – Anthony Reeve, Littledean.