WHAT happened? I know April Fool's day has just passed but isn't this taking things just one step too far?

Driving along the back road, between Whitchurch and Horrabridge I see we now have a slalom course restricting a perfectly reasonable width road to a one-way obstacle course.

Has the Highways Department got a little left over cash which it needs to use up?

Accidents in this area are not a regular occurrence. Has traffic calming gone to the extreme? Our beautiful country lanes are becoming a joke.

Amber Draper

Bedford Road

Horrabridge

MR Smyly (Times, April 6) is unconvinced of the merits of the traffic calming measures recently constructed between Whitchuch and Grenofen. Perhaps he is not fully aware of the rationale for this project. There are three main reasons.

Firstly, following concern expressed by many residents about the speed and volume of traffic passing through Whitchurch Road, several schemes have been devised to reduce speeds and discourage through traffic from using this road (see Times, March 16). The A386 is the primary route to and from Tavistock town centre, not Whitchurch Road.

Secondly, the distance between Grenofen and Tavistock is sufficiently short that walking and cycling are economical and environmentally sustainable transport options for the journey, but at present there is no safe route. The recently constructed traffic calming goes some way towards achieving this.

And thirdly, current plans are for the Whitchurch to Grenofen road to become part of the National Cycle Route, since no other options are available at this point. The National Cycle Route is designed with an unsupervised 12-year-old child in mind, so where existing roads have to be used, vehicle speeds must be reduced for safety reasons.

The Whitchurch-Grenofen traffic calming was funded from a central budget, not from local council taxation. There may well be a case for road safety measure in Grenofen, but they need not be at the expense of cyclists, pedestrians and the residents of Whitchurch Road.

Peter Donkin

9 Chestnut Close Bishopsmead

THE idea that Tavistock will die as every access is either coned off, rural 'gatewayed', traffic-lighted or otherwise denied to both resident or, more importantly, visitor, is ever nearer becoming a reality!

The 'rural gateway' on the Grenofen to Whitchurch road I am told by the Highway Department is to deny the use of the road to heavy goods vehicles. It is dangerous. When leaving Whitchurch you have no view along its length and are in the narrows before you can see approaching vehicles (which are permitted to do 60 mph from the Grenofen end) entering at that end.

To have any chance to be effective the 30 sign should be moved to the Grenofen end of the chicane. This just might slow down the 'boy racers' that will use it for Grand Prix trials.

Why a pavement that starts nowhere and goes nowhere? At each end there is a very narrow part of the highway that I certainly would not walk with my children. The main criticism is that it fails to address the problem of vehicles along the Whitchurch Road from Dolvin Road to the Whitchurch X roads. HGVs and other delivery vehicles can and will continue to use the road as an easy route and turn down by the PO crossroads.

There must be some form of speed restriction along the Whitchurch Road itself. For HGVs a four-tonne limit except buses. Speed humps are the most effective form as you will find out if you go to SE London where they are frequently employed. It still allows access to buses and dramatically reduces speed. The Whitchurch Road should really be for buses and residents only!

Ian Kilpatrick

209 Whitchurch Road

Tavistock