IT is hardly surprising to hear of yet more nouveau industrial planning with no responsibility taken on behalf of the builders or planners to recognise or deal with what is a national problem ("Traffic fear on new offices bid", October 29).

York is already overpopulated. Its road network is nearing meltdown and council solutions such as Park & Ride are naive at best.

The reality of the situation is simple, but something that the powers-that-be don't bear thinking about. Our nation's economy is as reliant on roads as our own health is reliant on the arteries that make our own bodies function.

When the roads come to a standstill, our economy will too.

When York's outer ring road was built, its sole objective was to feed the out-lying villages - not to service the enormous commercial developments of Monks Cross and Clifton Moor. The developers of these facilities should have been given no option but to invest in the road they subsequently crippled.

How can Coun Ann Reid, supposedly with the knowledge of a transport executive, even consider that roundabout improvements can be any kind of a solution?

For those of us unlucky enough to find ourselves gridlocked on the highways, don't forget to admire the wonderful roundabout flower arrangements courtesy of Coun Reid and co - they may not be able to keep the country moving, but they will provide a wonderful aside.

James Micklethwaite,

Hartoft Street, York.

Updated: 11:43 Tuesday, November 09, 2004