WHO are the idiots who have decided the Botley interchange roundabout needs traffic lights?

Who are the idiots who have spent a huge fortune of our money on unnecessary road works, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings for people who do not exist?

The decision makers who have come to this ludicrous waste of everyone’s time and money, be they traffic engineers or whoever they are, should be publicly named and shamed.

If the decision-makers had done their homework on the roundabout, or used the roundabout for the past 25 years, as I have done travelling down from Cumnor, they would know that the problem with the road system is the A34 and the Botley Road traffic lights, NOT the roundabout.

Let’s look at the reasons why existing drivers using the junction will be tearing their hair out with well founded frustration and anger and will be wanting someone to rip out the new traffic lights asap!

At the height of the rush-hour the roundabout is affected by the A34 being slow-moving or gridlocked in both directions, blocking the slip-roads.

The new traffic lights will amplify this problem by stopping the slow, but continuous movement of traffic at rush-hour, and adding a huge amount of congestion.

Even at rush-hour, it was always possible to move in the direction of Cumnor from the roundabout and moderately easy to enter the right-hand lane from the roundabout to turn right at the Botley Road traffic lights, towards the Botley shops and Cumnor Hill. Now, these movements will take minutes, instead of a few seconds.

The rest of the day, there were absolutely no problems with the roundabout and its junction with the A34.

Yes, if there was an accident on the A34, or before a Bank Holiday weekend or at Christmas, the roundabout can again be affected, but by the A34, not the roads on the roundabout Now, all routes leading on to and away from the roundabout, which were originally free-flowing for most of the day, will be held up by the lights.

Slip road queues in both directions from the A34 up to the roundabout will now intensify the back-log of traffic trying to reach Botley Road.

Because of these queues on the A34 waiting to go up the roundabout slip roads (caused by the new lights), more drivers wanting to get to Botley, coming up from the A34, will overtake the queues and dive into any available spaces in the inside queue lane, undoubtedly, blocking the free flow of traffic in the outside lane of the A34.

I would like all drivers to join in with the game of spotting the mysterious pedestrians or cyclists who will be using the new crossings on the roundabout.

I’m sure if everyone living in the area were asked if they had ever seen anyone wanting to walk or cycle across the roundabout, their short and simple answer would be ‘no’.

Again, a vast amount of money has been wasted on these crossings.

I’m sure there are valid and invalid reasons why there are traffic lights on many roundabouts along the A34, however, the Botley Road/A34 interchange definitely should not have them, since the road system, will, I’m sure, be completely messed up by them.

PETER SISSONS, Appleton Road,Cumnor