IT IS a predictable cry from motorists whenever the lights fail in Frideswide Square: Leave them off, the traffic is running smoothly.

We welcome Oxfordshire County Council’s confirmation that it is planning to sweep away the complicated set-up that has been causing frustration for drivers for almost 11 years (and yes, it has only been a decade, when for many it has felt far, far longer).

The county is also showing good leadership in how it is approaching the £2m project.

Seeking solutions from the public – drivers, cyclists and pedestrians – who use the square every day is the right thing to do.

Too many transport authorities sit in their ivory towers coming up with perfect systems that work on paper but not on the ground.

The travelling public have the time to ponder, as they sit there, what could help this crucial junction flow that much better.

Of course, some of the ideas will be best described as fanciful or financially impossible (new bridges at the eastern end of Botley Road anyone?) but they may just hit on the answer to replace this round peg in a square hole.