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Squadr on Leader C G Day AFRAeS65 Ni ght i nga l e Dr i v e

Br oadwey. Weymout h. DT3 5ST

1A Apr i l 95The Se c r et ar y of St at e f or Tr ans po r tWel l bar House

Ga l l owgat e

Newcas t l e upon TyneNE1 4TD

Dear Si r ,

A354 Rel i ef Road Ri dgeway t o Mount P l easant ( Br own Rout e) .i n t he Count y of Dor set .

May I dr aw your at t ent i on t o what may wel l become a maj or mi s -

use of publ i c f unds ( app r ox . M35+) i f t he cur r ent l ocal aut hor i t ypl an as desc r i bed above i s a l l owed to mat er i a l i ze . Whi l s t t hatpl an or i gi nal l y had mer i t i t s need has now been super ceeded by th*much gr eat er and mor e i mpor t ant need f or a new Sout h Dor set r oad

sys t em geared t o t he i mmi nent commer c i a l i sat i on of t he Por t l andN base, now t aken over f or devel opment by t he f i r m ' Por t l and

P o r t ' . I t s dev el o pme nt i s s c hedul ed t o i nc l ude a r ol l on r ol l of f f er r y s ys t em t o and f r o m Cher bour g.

Cl ear l y a new r oad sys t em l i nked to t he Po r t l and commer c i a l p r o j -ec t wi l l be necessa r y f or i t s success . I n t hi s cont ex t i t i s obv -

i ous t hat a new di r ect dua l car r i ageway r oad connec t i on f r om Por t -l and by t he s hor t est and most di r ect r out e to t he M5 mot or way i s

t he most cos t e f f ec t i ve way of ensur i ng t he por t ' s commerc i a lsuccess wi t h i t s ext ens i ve pot ent i a l i n t er ms of empl oyment . Al ook at t he appl i cabl e Landr anger OS map wi l l show t hat t he bestr out e to achi eve t hi s i mpor t ant ai m shou l d r un f r o Re f . 658791 ati t s sout her n end to Ref . 639948 at i t s nor t hern out l et to t he r ec -

ent l y i mpr oved A37 and t hence to M5 nor t h of Yeovi l , wi t h f astconnect i ons t o t he i ndus t r i a l Mi dl ands and Sout h Wal es .

The l oc al i sed A354 pl an, commendabl e 5 year s ago, wi l ] do no t hi ng

t o hel p t he P or t l a nd pot ent i al . I f a l l owe d t o pr oc eed i t wi l l a b-sor b a very l a rge expendi t ur e to r el i eve t r af f i c dens i t y al ong a

mere 2 mi l es s t r et ch of r oad where hi gh dens i t y t r a f f i c i s con-

f i ned to peak hol i day and commut er t i mes onl y . I f adequat e t hi nk i ng

j .s now appl i ed t o t he Por t l and pot ent i al wi t h i t s par amount needf or a moder n r oad wel l t o t he west of t he exi st i ng A354 and i nc ompl et e l y o pe n , unde vel oped c ount r y s i de of l i t t l e s c eni c or a gr i c -u l t ur al val ue, t he EM35+, est i mat ed as t he ' Br own Rout e' cost ,coul d much mor e ef f ect i vel y be appl i ed to t he f ut ure t r anspor tneeds of Por t l and. Thi s i s an appor t uni t y whi ch shoul d nt be mi s -

sed. A pl an al ong t hese l i nes ( i nconci evabl e when the ' Br own Routwas f i r s t pl anned) coul d wel l i nc l ude a s ec ondar y l i nk s ys t em t o

encour age at l east heavy goods vehi c l es away f r om A354, t hei r des-

t i nat i ons i n any case bei ng mai nl y wel l west of Weymout h to i t s

i ndus t r i al s ubur bs .Anot her l i ne of t hought concer ns t he excel l ent Dorches t e r t oWe ymo ut h e l e ct r i f i e d r a i l l i nk whi c h i s s er i o us l y under us ed. I t s

I NRO PEGTTilY

- I M A Y 1 9 9 5

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t wo e x t r e mi t i e s hav e a de qu at e unus ed p ar k i ng ar e a s whi c h c o ul d

a c c o mo da t e c omme r c i a l t r a ns f e r s r o ad r a i 1 r o ad at ei t her e nd.

I s u g ge s t t hat i t i s v i t al t o t he e c on omi c f u t u r e of t he who l e

o f So u t h Do r s e t t ha t M35+ i s not wa s t ed on t he ver y l o ca l i sedA 3 54 p l an when i t coul d be much mor e e f f ec t i ve l y used on an

e s s e n t i a l P or t l a nd t o M5 l i nk, whi c h woul d al s o s e r v e t o r el i e ve

t r af f i c dens i t y al ong t he ver y l i mi t ed s t r et c h of t he ex i s t i ng

A 3 5 4 r oad wh i c h c ar r i es onl y l i mi t ed hi gh d ens i t y t r af f i c at ver y

l i mi t e d t i mes ; f or muc h of t he year t her e i s no t r af f i c pr o bl e mat al l a l ong t h i s r oad.

I s p e a k as o ne who us es A354 dai l y i n t he c o u r s e o f s e l f e mp l o y -

ment . T he enc l o sed pr ess ex t r a c t may se r ve t o i ndi ca t e t hat my

v i e ws a r e s ha r e d by bet t er qua l i f i e d p er s o ns t han my s el f .

Your s s i nc er e l y ,