Letters: Missed chance for roundabout at 'risky' Everton junction

SIR - With several recent letters advocating a roundabout at the A337 junction with Milford Road, I thought that perhaps some recollections from the time prior to the construction of the Everton bypass might be relevant.

As a partner of a local land surveyors practice, it was my project on behalf of Dunfords, who were paying for the construction, to map the route and then draw the design onto the mapping to the design geometry making it acceptable for a 60mph speed.

During meetings at Lymington town hall offices it was considered very necessary to have a roundabout at this junction, because gravel excavations were commencing at Efford and there would be a constant flow of laden lorries heading for the washing plant at Caird Avenue, together with a flow of empty lorries returning for their next load.

From memory, the extra cost would have been circa £10,000, which would have been met by Dunfords.

However, our design suggestions were considered an impedance to the natural traffic flow and we were overruled by the county traffic engineers.

For traffic approaching eastwards from the Everton Road junction, forward visibility is always restricted despite the speed limit being reduced to 40mph, which leaves parents and children crossing from Wainsford Road whilst walking them to school with no safe envelope with which to assess the speed and distance of approaching traffic.

Maintaining our roads to the safe design speed geometry seem to be missing from the highways department's radar.

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