WITH regard to the traffic lights for the guided bus, I work in Royston and travel this road twice a day, and the traffic lights for the guided bus, passengers, bikers, walkers has now become the bane of my life.

They have added an extra 20 minutes minimum onto my journey on my return trip. Officially I should finish work at 4.45pm but, if I do that, I don’t get home till between 6pm and 6.15pm – between an hour and an hour and a quarter to do a 20-mile journey. It takes 40 minutes to get from Royston to the flyover on the A14: the rest of the time is taken up queuing to get back into St. Ives.

I now have to finish at 4.30 and use 15 minutes flexi-time each day just to save time. I have to leave at 7am in the morning to go to work and actually cut through town to save time on the bypass.

I feel sorry for the people who have to leave a bit later and get caught up in the gridlock twice a day.

People who say these traffic lights are not causing problems must need to get their eyes tested. Some nights the area is nearly gridlocked: these traffic lights are causing a major problem for all vehicles travelling this route.

I am sure that these buses are not full so, if each bus has 20 people on it, then five buses would be 100 passengers. If you counted the cars that are caught up in this fiasco, each evening you are talking in a half hour period of probably 500-1,000-plus vehicles all having an extra 20-30 minutes of sitting in traffic and crawling along at 2-5mph, all getting very frustrated and not letting any of the other traffic in at roundabouts, garages and turnings, as they are already getting aggravated.

My husband works at Vindis, and from our house to Vindis normally takes five to seven minutes: this journey takes him about 20-25 minutes now.

During a space of 20-30 minutes these traffic lights must change about 15-20 times-plus.

It is not just the guided bus that is causing this problem but all the pedestrians using the lights.

I think that a proper survey should be done by the highways department and alongside them some independent people who have to travel this route and have a vested interest in something being done about these inappropriate lights.

Why do the buses have to come into town? Why can’t they start over the other side of the lights and a pedestrian flyover be built?

St Ives is trying to be promoted for business and shopping. This sort of congestion is not going to help existing and new businesses to the area.

LEE BETTS

Welland Close

St Ives