Madam,

Before people give their support to Edwina Hart’s decision to provide roundabouts for the Dolgellau bypass, they should be aware of the contents of the proposal document that led to the work done last year. That 71-page document includes diagrams of the junctions as they existed at the time, traffic statistics, accident reports and diagrams of the proposals that were put in place in 2014. (Although for some reason a reduction of the speed limit at the junctions to 60mph has not been implemented.)There is no mention that the give way lines in the intersec-tions were almost entirely worn away. The lines are crucial to vehicles turning off the bypass across oncoming traffic (par-ticularly in the dark and rain) and probably constituted the most significant hazard on the road, but despite being told at least twice, Gwynedd Council failed to take action.Study of the reports of 18 accidents involving injury from 2008 to 2012 reveals that the design of the bypass junc-tions was not a factor in any collisions. So why was around £1m spent on making changes if no problems were identified? The official answer is “the junctions did not meet current design standards”. Considering what happened soon after the changes were complete, it seems the design standards are wrong. Not only are the Tywyn and Bala road junctions confusing, they fail to heed Highway Code rule 172: “At junctions, you must give way to traffic on the main road”.The decision to build roundabouts looks like an attempt to quell complaints rather than a considered approach to making the bypass safer. Not only would the cost of roundabouts be substantial, they would bring their own problems. The best solution is to simply put the road back the way it was.

Yours etc,Andrew Currie

Llanegryn Street

Abergynolwyn.