As a long time Waterside resident living in Holbury, it was with great interest that I read the article urging the so called ‘Civic Leaders’ to scrap the proposal to upgrade the present parking lot currently operating under the guise of the A326.

I use this vital link road from the southern parishes on a regular basis and am frequently held up by the slightest of problems, whether it be road traffic accident, a fallen tree or as at present, the so called improvements to the roundabouts.

I presume that the critics do not live in the Waterside parishes and do not have first hand experience of what any minor incident on this road may cause.

In fact today whilst travelling back from Cadnam at 16:15hrs, I ran into quite a long hold up from the old Southampton road waiting to filter onto the end of the dual carriageway north of Marchwood.

This hold up gets worse as the late afternoon, early evening traffic increases. At the same time, there appeared to be a free for all as the A326 joins the dual carriageway heading north, mainly due to the egress of works traffic from the Fawley work sites.

I have lived in the area long enough to remember when the current road did not exist and all traffic to Southampton went via the Hythe and Marchwood villages. This route is in grave danger of becoming a ‘rat run’ if the A326 is not improved drastically to accommodate the increasing volume of commuting traffic to and from Southampton or Fawley.

I, like a lot of other Waterside residents am all in favour of the A326 to be upgraded to a dual carriageway asap.

D.G.Headley, Holbury