A MORLEY, of Applegarth Avenue, Newton Abbot, writes:
Your correspondent (September 4) is quite right in his fourth paragraph to highlight the natural occurrence of warmer and colder period in the earth]s history.
The 14th century was far warmer than today when wood was burnt, yet with the massive pollution of the 1940s we had a very cold period. However, this has little to do with the proposed new road to Torbay.
I am pleased that you have come out against the new road and I find it difficult to understand your correspondent's reference to your opinion on global warming which, from my reading, was not mentioned in your editorial.
This is not a bypass such as at Honiton; this is an alternative road to the same endpoint. Anyone who has driven on a motorway will know that any hold-up creates a tailback, and the faster the traffic the longer the tailback in a shorter time. This is liable to occur wherever the new road terminates.
I have driven to Torbay Hospital at many different hours of the day and the journey is usually almost non-stop. Of course there are delays at peak times, but the queues into Newton Abbot are frequently longer and slower. Should we have new roads from Totnes, Bovey and Kingsteignton?
Once past Jury's Corner the traffic thins out to a density that Torbay can absorb.
I fear that if the bypass enthusiasts get their way, and spend our £150 million, they will be rewarded with longer tailbacks for more of the day than at present.