REGARDING the work on Darwen's main road, planners and councillors have been accused of being in various degrees of insanity, ranging from them being bird-brained idiots to anti-driving dolts.

The traffic lights near that hideous edifice astride the A666 are, according to some, an unnecessary nuisance and a roundabout would be better.

The mini-roundabout at Birch Hall was designed by a sadistic moron and the narrowing of the road is beyond the comprehension of anyone above the level of imbecility.

And so the litany of lament goes on. But facts are stubborn things and the fact is that the road was not built with cars in mind. Many of the houses alongside the road are about 100 years old and the people living there have to be considered too and should be able to cross the road without risking life and limb.

The two factors involved here are not drivers and pedestrians; they are people and vehicles. The town is awash with cars and we are close to saturation point.

We now have to organise confusion as best we can and, short of demolishing half the town and starting again, we cannot cope with any more traffic.

Parking space is at a premium and cars litter the pavements from one end of town to the other.

Let's face it, our towns and cities are being choked to death and unless we take remedial action now, we will eventually pay the price and everything will come to a grinding halt.

Perhaps we will then be compelled to return to the use of horses and shank's pony.

RAYMOND NICHOLSON, View Road, Darwen.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.