THE Hunts Post informs us that £1.45million is being spent on providing a contra-flow bus lane for maybe 250 yards along the Walden Road part of the ring road to shorten some journey times by up to 10 minutes, the county council says. All for 33 buses a d

THE Hunts Post informs us that £1.45million is being spent on providing a contra-flow bus lane for maybe 250 yards along the Walden Road part of the ring road to shorten some journey times by up to 10 minutes, the county council says. All for 33 buses a day.

The bus timetables' scheduled times from Hinchingbrooke Hospital to the bus station vary between four minutes for the service 466; five, six and eight minutes for the 565, 566; seven and eight minutes for the 571. Saving 10 minutes on these times defies the laws of physics. Timings for the reverse journey are four or five minutes.

There are going to be buses on this lane for under an hour a day for the convenience of the few. Meanwhile, other users of the ring road will be further inconvenienced by the additional bus phase of the signals at George Street, where the bus lane will replace the cycle path that was installed only three years ago.

Congestion on the ring road would be reduced if all of it was a two-way street. Vehicles would then be only on that part of the ring road needed to make the journey, not unnecessarily clogging up three-quarters of it.

The work involved would need adjustments to George Street, Ermine Street and river bridge junctions with the ring road, with traffic signals and an in-built pedestrian phase, and a roundabout created at the Hartford Road junction.

Godmanchester to Hartford traffic would not need to circumnavigate the town (or use the rat-run through St Mary's Street), ambulances could reach Godmanchester more quickly, the police would have quicker access to the A1, Ermine Street to the station would be quicker, the fire and rescue service would be able to reach the industrial and business estates quicker, and all buses would only need to use parts of the ring road required for their route. That's better than cutting down trees and knocking down walls that have been in situ far longer than the planners at Cambridge.

VIV JENKINS

Brampton