I am writing to protest the closure of the short link road at the bottom of Cotton Tree Drive. This link provided a route for traffic from Chater Road to go uphill to Mid-Levels and the Peak. Now this traffic is forced to go on a long detour to Wan Chai north, and then loop back again. This not only adds to the traffic in the area but also increases air pollution. Presumably the link has been closed to improve the capacity of the signalised junction. However, there is another solution. Traffic using the link could share the same green time as traffic coming from Admiralty. The two streams could be prevented from merging until further up the hill and thus there would be no problem with safety. The few vehicles coming from Admiralty and wanting to go to Queen's Road would have to take a slightly longer route via Garden Road. That would be less of a problem than the one imposed by the current scheme. It would seem the government's traffic engineers have not considered all the alternatives. If they claim that they have, they should present evidence to prove that what they have done is for the best. RICHARD GARRETT The Peak
