I see from News Shopper letters that the new double roundabout on the A224, Court Road, Orpington has attracted some criticism.

The letter and comments have been written either by drivers who are just passing through the area and find it inconvenient to have to slow down or those who have never used it.

Certainly, no consideration has been made of the local residents who for years have had difficulties crossing or joining at this junction.

Court Road has to be joined or crossed to get to Orpington, the local shops and station, doctors’ surgery etc.

The local residents have been asking for a solution to this dangerous junction for over 20 years.

Accidents have been a regular occurrence with cars being written off, some serious personal injuries and a few fatalities.

Having to cross or join Court Road during peak periods was so stressful and difficult that we and many others would find alternative routes.

Standing at the nearby bus stop you would be witness to many near misses.

Tony Hart suggests that we revert to the format when Court Road was first built in the 1920s, when traffic density was far less, speeds were much slower and the M25 was decades away and Norman McDonnell suggests a standard roundabout would have been cheaper.

This was considered but as the junction is offset it was not possible in the space available.

The new double roundabout slows the traffic speeds down and allows for local traffic from Warren Road to either cross or join Court Road far more safely.

Having used the present layout at all times of the day and in all traffic conditions we find it far easier to negotiate this junction.

It is also far easier to cross it on foot and provision has been made for cyclists to negotiate the junction safely.

Residents are reporting near misses being caused by motorists driving along Court Road continuing to assume right of way and not being prepared to stop and give way.

It would be made safer by more prominent signage on the Court Road approaches to advise motorists of the need to slow down and be prepared to give way.

The project was funded by TfL as part of their accident reduction scheme.

Peter Gandolfi, Chelsfield Village resident