Editor, Your report that work on the A39 cycle path near Minehead has been halted due to the unacceptable delays caused to traffic will be welcomed but it raises the question of how such a poorly conceived and badly managed scheme ever saw the light of day?

Another local traffic management nightmare now unfolding is the fallout from the closure of the Watchet to Blue Anchor coast road. The only alternative routes from the A39 are the road through Blue Anchor to the seafront and the lane passing through Old Cleeve. Both are unsuitable for large vehicles or the new volume of traffic and the prospect of a fire engine or ambulance being stuck in a jam is very worrying apart from the disruption to residents along these routes. 

As yet there doesn’t appear to be any plan to provide a new road. I note that our MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger, has welcomed the suspension of the cycle route work.  I wonder what action he took during the months it has been going on? The Watchet/Blue Anchor route poses different problems - some of which could be life threatening. 

He is known for being very critical of things going on in the neighbouring constituency of Taunton e.g. comparing its high street to Aleppo, and he speaks about these matters in the House of Commons. 

Can he please address the coast road diversion with some urgency and let his constituents know what is happening to resolve the problem? Issuing press releases commenting on the situation doesn’t really count as action in my book.

Sandra Jones, Old Cleeve