THE chaos which crippled Oxford’s roads yesterday, highlighted just how inadequate our road system really is.

Accidents on main approaches (the A40 and the Southern By-pass), coupled with pipeline replacement work in the city itself, led to a perfect storm of gridlock and stressful delays.

Our laughable ring road – which, in the north of the city, sees traffic funnelled into a two-lane suburban residential street (North Way), is all too vulnerable to the slightest shunt or random set of roadworks. And who is it that suffers? Yes, the long-suffering motorist, and especially those priced out of the city and forced to travel in from outlying towns.

If we can’t have trams or a real suburban rail system, then we need proper wide roads and flyovers, to get things moving.

G HUSBAND North Oxford