I’M GLAD Coun Dave Merrett acknowledges that the congestion at the Water End junction existed long before the cycle lane was installed (Letters, December 19).

The regular presence of tailbacks on the other side of the road, which at one stage prompted the police to issue a warning to drivers who were stopping on the box junction and obstructing oncoming traffic while waiting to tag onto the queue of vehicles blocking Water End, demonstrates that the loss of the left-hand filter lane is only a minor factor.

Coun Merrett concedes this, as he rightly states that its removal “will not stop congestion”.

That being so, and considering that three experts have advised that altering the junction will make it more dangerous, the council should have the moral courage to tell motorists that congestion is a price they have to accept for opting to take a vehicle on to busy roads and that, as the safety of all road users must be paramount, the cycle lane will remain in its present form.

I’m sure the council has not forgotten the near-fatal accident caused when they ignored warnings and pushed through ill-judged changes on Fulford Road, which then had to be reversed.

PM Ray, Green Lane, Clifton, York.