I was surprised to read the letter by A Phillips (Postbag, March 7).

Mr Phillips is a fairly regular contributor to Postbag and I usually find myself in total agreement with what he has to say, but not this time.

The A3094 is a very different road from the old B-road which it replaced some years ago. Large signs were erected at the Harnham Gyratory and Park Wall junction directing traffic travelling west or south to use this route and many drivers on the A36 also use the A3094 rather than the ring road with all its roundabouts and traffic lights.

As a result this is now a very busy road with nearly 13,000 vehicles a day including nearly 2,000 HGVs.

As a cyclist one takes one’s life in one’s hands, vehicles are forced towards the pavement by the pedestrian refuges, HGVs overtake and then cut in too soon, and near the gyratory you are virtually squeezed off the road. This is why many cyclists opt to ride on the pavements where pedestrians are not expecting them.

A dedicated shared-use path would encourage an increase in cycling and enable children to cycle to school and commuters to get to work safely.

The proposed path would be wider than the Town Path where cyclists and pedestrians co-exist, providing both treat each other with care and respect.

PAM ROUQUETTE, Harnham