Whoever did this deserves a medal

THIS has got to be the worst attempt at resolving a traffic flow problem that the North Somerset Traffic Department has yet attempted.

You are probably aware of the fact that on Sunday at some time between 11am and 2pm, the cones were moved out of the way and two lanes on the approach from Maltlands to the roundabout were restored; normality resumed.

Whoever did this deserves a medal and if he or she had not carried out the daring move, I can assure you that I and many, many other motorists living within the Locking Castle/Weston Village area, would have probably done the same thing before now. Maybe it was the police and if so, well done.

Since Friday morning the queues coming over Locking Moor Bridge at times went right back to and beyond, The Borough Arms in Locking Road. And to see those sorts of queues on a Saturday or Sunday had been unheard of before May 1.

This experiment was never going to be feasible and whoever came up with the idea could not possibly have been someone who could drive let alone someone who actually lived anywhere near to the Hutton Moor Roundabout (or to be correct the Herluin roundabout).

The fault lies with the planners who permitted the development of the new Aisecome Retail Park without considering the effects on traffic flow.

The long term solution must be to have a slip road into the Aisecome Retail Park from the A370 (Flowerdown Bridge) and likewise a third lane (left turn only) when exiting the same in the direction of the town centre.

Short term, may I suggest that now that the roundabout's 'forest' has been cut back improving visibility immensely, that both lanes of the roundabout be opened up all the way round, clearly marking the left hand lane out of Maltlands as either left or straight ahead only and the right hand lane for traffic going into the town centre on the A370: in other words as per The Highway Code paragraphs 160-162.

TIM WALTON

Sutton Close (off Maltlands), Weston