THE Daily Echo has spent all week looking at the subject of congestion – and you have been sharing your views.

Jeff Yeoman, of Hamworthy, said users of different kinds of transport needed to unite rather than attack each other.

Among his suggestions, he said: “I have not seen any plan from Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership to invest in rail infrastructure.

“We need is double track between Dorchester and Moreton and electric power supply upgrade between Poole and Weymouth. Then we can have fast journeys between our main Dorset towns and faster Weymouth to London journey times.

“The car still has an important role to play, especially for people living in rural areas. But we now have to think differently as to driving and parking in town. A friend of mine was told she would have to pay for a permit to park at work. She now parks 15/20 minutes away from her office and then walks. She’s very happy with the exercise.”

Steve Petzer said: “Roadworks are a nightmare. They go on for months, often with no one around doing any work to complete it. Any company should be given a three-day grace period after which a road possession fee becomes payable. In Japan, you cannot have any roads closed during the day. It all takes place at night.”

Tony Brown, of Poole, said traffic counts done in the conurbation appear online without information about where people were going to and from.

“I would think the vast majority of the journeys are west/east and east/west. If my assumption is correct, a light rail link from Hamworthy in the east to New Milton in the east could ease congestion in a cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable way.

“With the advent of the council mergers, silly territorial disputes will disappear and we may at last enjoy some benefits of being one authority able to take decisions in the interest of the whole conurbation. The rails that carry the main London line can be widened and extended to provide a light rail link for local traffic. New stations can be opened along the route, for instance, one at the university, another at Bourne Valley perhaps.

“The local light rail network must be entirely free of charge to all, otherwise it will never be properly utilised by the very drivers we need to remove from the road network.”

Ronnie James said: “Until last year I lived in Bournemouth centre. However, after 13 years, enough was enough. Commuting for an hour just to get to the other side of Christchurch was ridiculous, slow, stressful and not to mention the standstill traffic’s pollution. After moving to the beautiful rolling white horse hills of Wiltshire, I still commute but now on a busy A350 for twice the distance in just a third of the time it took battling Bournemouth.”

Problems included “poorly located” bus stops which cause buses to block the road, tailbacks caused by the cycle lanes on Wimborne Road north of Richmond Hill, and the need for two lanes all the way from Castlepoint to Wessex Way.

Robert Hart of Poole said: “Create a flyover at Canford Bottom. Torquay has one and it has transformed access in and out of the area.”

He added: “Create more one-way systems in the conurbation. Having two lanes in one direction, such as Wallisdown Road in one direction and Turbary Park Avenue as the other direction.”

He said traffic lights should also be better linked to work together.

More comments from readers next week.