Mend our roads sensibly

The A5 has been open for 2,000 years since the Romans built it. They knew how to build roads but their skill has long since been lost.

They had no mechanisation but built vast lengths of road in the time taken to repair short lengths of it today.

They built roads straight so that good visibility and safety were ensured but we are only able to make them crooked today.

The A5 is currently closed at night at great inconvenience while a few curb stones are put in different positions and inadequate bits of slipway are created and the central island at Mile End is made larger.

The benefits these slight modifications may bring don't seem worth the nuisance, the time and the cost. It would have been better to put the money towards converting the narrow part of the road between the Nesscliffe bypass and West Felton into a dual carriageway.

Compounding the misery and causing miles of queues are temporary traffic lights on the west side of Shottaton Crossroads, is there any need for traffic lights?

This situation has occurred at that place several times in recent months. The problem apparently is a faulty manhole at the side of the road. Why can't it be promptly fixed?

It takes some believing that in the 21st century one of the country's main trunk roads is held to ransom for this.

Some countries run their services in channels at the side of the road. This makes access for servicing easier and does not require the road to be restricted and dug up. Could such a sensible idea be applied here?

Peter Keen, Oswestry