AS A single parent who lives in Portishead but works in the centre of Bristol, each morning I drop my children off and then drive to the Park and Ride at Long Ashton, after which I get the bus into the centre of Bristol. This journey on a good day takes

AS A single parent who lives in Portishead but works in the centre of Bristol, each morning I drop my children off and then drive to the Park and Ride at Long Ashton, after which I get the bus into the centre of Bristol. This journey on a good day takes me around 45 minutes, but now takes me around two hours! Why? Because Clapton Lane, the main back route leading to the Park and Ride from Portishead has been closed? Why? To repair a bridge; I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the complete lack of thought that has gone into when the repairs are being done. Instead of doing them in the up and coming school holidays, when traffic flow is considerably less, the work is being done now, with no consideration at all to the impact this has. As an alternative, the work could have been done from say 10am - 4pm in the week, thereby having no impact on rush hour traffic, or even at the weekend, where the added cost to contractors would have been offset by money commuters saved by not sitting in traffic queues for four hours a day.I would suggest that the executive member of North Somerset Council responsible for highways should consider his position. He is clearly in charge of making decisions that have no economic, environmental or social logic. Unfortunately this is what the residents of Portishead have come to expect from our council, and it has to stop.PAUL NEWPORT - Via email