ROGER Gough (17.8.16) offered pedestrians a better way to walk into Stroud from Waitrose to Brunel Mall because of the somewhat hazardous thin pavement.

The same stretch of road is also problematic for drivers as pedestrians repeatedly step out into the London Road because the pavement is not wide enough for people to pass.

Occasionally, some pedestrians do not even look both ways before they step out.

That is dangerous and no vehicle driver wants to be the unlucky driver to hit someone because they were driving safely and someone stepped out suddenly.

So whilst I think Mr Gough’s solution to walk to town via the car park is a great idea, it won’t ever apply to all and I’d like to suggest the council embraces the problem and finds a better solution whilst still maintaining two way traffic.

One such solution which springs to mind (and I’ve not thought this through massively) is to have a barrier (about a metre high maybe) along the edge of the pavement which prevents people being able to step out into the road easily.

This barrier can also help protect pedestrians from spray (solid barrier needed) and traffic and may even reduce the number of vehicles stopping on that stretch (not that many do really).

To ensure that works for wheelchairs users, etc., I think several formal passing places for pedestrians/wheelchairs would have to be negotiated with the house owners too, otherwise it wouldn’t be workable.

These house owners should be compensated if they agree to give up a few feet of their private territory to make Stroud a safer place.

Adrian Lawton

Stroud