I WRITE in support of Jesse Norman MP’s common sense advice on the major traffic problems of Hereford city (Hereford Times, March 28).

It is very urgent to direct the through traffic away from the centre.

If this can be done for a budget of £20 million to the east or £14m to the west it is a no brainer which way to go.

My opinion is informed by the experience of having the Worcester Southern Link Road across farmland in my stewardship some 30 years ago.

It is a similar situation, a flood plain with permanent pastures grazed by ourselves and holders of common rights.

The environmental impact has not been detrimental. Wildlife on the River Teme is not affected.

The 5m-high structure which carries the road has been landscaped, and it is to some extent a refuge in time of floods.

The worst is that some motorists think it OK to throw out rubbish from their car windows.

The most important aspect environmentally is the hydrology.

Flood arches must be ample and adequate and these will also give plenty of access for wildlife and farming operations.

For the Worcester Southern Link, the road itself is well managed in this respect; however more attention should have been (and still should be) given to the water flow under existing main roads.

Traffic flow is always difficult to predict and of course over time any new road will attract additional journeys.

I recall that before the Southern Link, there were 45,000 river crossings daily in Worcester city centre. It was said that reducing this by as little as 5,000 would ease up the traffic a great deal.

Within three weeks of opening the Southern Link was carrying 17,000 per day to the new “Carrington” bridge over the River Severn. I guess it is double that today.

For this reason I say let’s build it big enough. Let’s have two lanes in each direction – an extra cost at this stage of, say, £10m.

But what is the point of spending about £90m on Edgar Street Grid if you are discouraged from visiting it due to traffic?

THOMAS R HAWKINS, Bosbury, Ledbury.