THE controversy that surrounds the rerouting of buses to permit phase 2 of the Orchard Centre development in Didcot will no doubt continue for some time.

I was telephone-canvassed on my views and made it quite clear that I, along with what appears to be a majority of people, believed that running buses through what remains of Station Road to the Broadway was not a preferred or viable option for town residents. Why destroy the pleasant pedestrian environment outside the Cornerstone and cinema just to appease a bus company?

Yet our elected representatives once again seem to have ignored our voices, if indeed they have capitulated to a bus company’s demands.

There is a realistic and viable alternative, which will not impact at all on the conservation area of Station Road and its residents.

This alternative is Riches Sidings, which already runs almost as far as Hitchcock Way. By putting in a new roundabout to link Hitchcock Way via Riches Sidings to a new roundabout at the junction of Lower Broadway and Hagbourne Road, for the exclusive use of buses and taxis, has got to be a better option, as it impacts on not a single resident.

The current arrangement with traffic lights controlling access to the Orchard Centre is also in need of urgent review.

When phase two is complete and more people come into our beleaguered town from outlying communities to use the much improved retail and recreational facilities there, it makes sense to put in a roundabout to allow traffic to flow more freely.

I urge all residents to have a look at Google Earth to see how this alternative could work.

It would also ease congestion on the already heavily congested Jubilee Way roundabout, which grinds to a snail’s pace during rush hour and is little better the rest of the day.

GORDON COLLINGWOOD
Balmoral Road, Didcot