NONE of the various contributions to the front-page article in the Okehampton Times (August 12) mentioned the major cause of the traffic congestion.

Having again witnessed the usual traffic queue extending from the Esso garage on Exeter Road to the traffic lights at Fore St/West St, I conducted my own survey there with the following results.

Saturday, August 7 12.15-13.45pm (dry, sunny)

West St Market St Fore St George St

Green light

duration (seconds) 20 22 21 15

No of vehicles waiting

at start of green light 6 14 150* 4

Max no of vehicles

waiting at start of

green light 7 19 150* 4

(*up to Esso garage)

Each italic figure is the average of four readings. Sometimes a green light is shown to a road empty of vehicles while traffic queues build elsewhere.

At 2.30pm the situation was of similar proportions: less traffic on all roads but extending beyond Fore Street to Barton Road. A similar survey about a year ago gave similar results. My briefer survey today without timing figures, gave the following results:

Sat August 14 04: 11.10am (dry, sunny)

West St Market St Fore St George St

No of vehicles

waiting at start

of green light 18 17 150* 6

(*up to Esso garage)

It is clear that these traffic lights cannot distinguish between two or 200 waiting vehicles. The durations of the green lights do not give more time to vehicles emerging from Fore Street, even when a massively greater number of vehicles is waiting.

The traffic queues on the east side of town are a regular feature for much of the year and most days of the week ? and not peculiar to the recent weeks when Mill Road has been closed to traffic. I see this slow moving queue on almost a daily basis either as a motorist or when walking to or from the town. I usually also make a mental note of the amount of traffic in West Street, Market Street and George Street, invariably there is, by comparison, next to none there.

There are a number of issues here, including: why have so many new dwellings been built and why are many more currently being built on the east side of the town with no appropriate road provision being put in a place before building commenced when it was obvious beforehand that the present roads would not cope with the expected increase in traffic?

However to ease this problem, change the timing of the traffic lights at Fore Street/West Street to show a green light to Fore Street for a sensible and fairer proportion of the lights? time cycle. Sensible and fairer? ? better related to the numbers of vehicles queuing on the four roads.

Alternatively, fit appropriate sensors so that these traffic lights are aware of and respond appropriately to a traffic jam they may otherwise be creating that extends a mile or more away in Exeter Road rather than continue to favour the three other relatively lightly used road whose traffic they control.

C Webber

Crocken Tor Road

Okehampton