Letter: No light at end of the tunnel on subject of traffic delays

A colourful plague unleashed to cause traffic jams where once there were none.

On a Friday night just before 11pm, I approached Telford from the Black Country. I trundled up the slip road at Junction Four welcomed by a red traffic light.

I listen to the last of 'Book at Bedtime' as eventually a car approaches on the roundabout from my right. For reasons that elude me still, it comes to a halt as the green light for that driver turns red.

Mine though turns green and only then, after feeding fumes to the environment from a needlessly static car can I carry on.

A quiet Saturday afternoon at the Ketley Brook Roundabout, that infamous place where a simple journey from Ketley towards Apley means navigating a minimum of three sets of traffic lights. This day I am returning from Wellington. No traffic at all on the roundabout but still a red light flashes for me and three others.

A truck arrives onto the roundabout from the south. The truck has to stop of course. No doubt having also been forced to grind to a halt at the traffic lights on Junction Six. All of which is helping improve the efficiency of our economy. Delivering the goods or going about your business for traffic engineers in Telford is clearly secondary to sitting in your vehicle and looking at empty roundabouts.

My heart fell into my boots when I read that part of the bid to the Local Enterprise Partnership included money for 'improvements' at junctions. Limekiln roundabout currently has nicely flowing traffic virtually all day and night.

That must be like a red rag to a bull for so called traffic engineers. Vehicles gyrating safely and smoothly round a roundabout? How dare they!

A definite lack of queuing at the Apley Arms roundabout? We will soon put a stop to that! So many roundabout and not enough traffic lights.

Is there any evidence anywhere to show that traffic congestion is less as a result of these blinking obstructions?

Andy Thompson, Ketley