It comes as no surprise to anyone who has sat in a queue in Brook Street that the very expensive change from mini-roundabout to lights has had an adverse effect on the pollution levels in that area.

It is laughable Essex County Council suggests people should walk or ride a bicycle when it has done nothing to improve those means of transport.

While it is an open secret it always panders to the needs of motorists, in this case it has made it worse for everyone.

This brings me to the point of this letter and that is the £15 million changes to the Harwich Road and Ipswich Road roundabouts which are going to take 15 months to complete.

The £15 million does not take into account the cost to businesses of the long delays their personnel have to suffer and the difficulties in making deliveries around a gridlocked Colchester.

Nor does it take into account the effect on air pollution on residents in Harwich Road or Ipswich Road caused by long lines of stationary traffic in the morning and afternoon.

It is a mystery to me how Essex County Council can spend so much of our money on a scheme when the result is unknown.

As with the Brook Street changes did someone suddenly think it would be a good idea?

I have been to two meetings about these roadworks.

At neither was an elected member on Essex County Council present.

At the first one, two years ago, a Ringway Jacobs employee informed me this vast amount of money would be well spent as "modelling" had been done which projected a speedier flow of traffic through these two junctions.

How much faster the traffic would go was not known, nor was it known how long into the future this "improvement" would last with motor traffic increasing at 2 per cent ( RAC figures for 2017) a year.

At the second meeting the appointed builders Eurovia explained how the works would be done in a way sympathetic to local community needs.

This was quickly shown to be a lie when it closed the cycle and pedestrian way on the north side of Ipswich Road and failed to put in any diversion notices for an alternative way through.

I would like to see an explanation from Essex County Council, preferably from Kevin Bentley, councillor responsible for infrastructure, as to how he justifies the expense and the inconvenience caused to the council tax payers in Colchester by this totally unwanted scheme.

Can he tell me what the increase in traffic flow will be and if it does occur what will be the effect on the Hythe roundabout in the east and the Albert roundabout in the west.

Can he categorically say that it won’t be another Brook Street?

It is about time Essex County Council realised trying to increase traffic flow for an ever growing number of vehicles is a lost cause and turn its attention to spending our money on making it easier to use other forms of transport such as walking, cycling and buses.

Desmond McCarron
Harwich Road, Colchester