'It only worked when the lights were broken' - your views on scrapping of Darlington's 'through-about'

The £12m 'through-about' scheme opened in 2008 and was designed to ease congestion.

• Council to replace 'expensive mistake'

Darlington Borough Council is going to replace it with a conventional roundabout after receiving £3.3m from the Department of Transport to improve road infrastructure. Here we publish a selection of the views.

Stevegg

USERS of this road have been saying this since day one, it was never fit for purpose and made congestion worse. Funny how few of these have been built nationwide.

Willow

TO be quite honest the way people plough down that road I think a roundabout would be quite dangerous. The through-about is pretty straight forward and they should spend money on places it's needed instead of spending it on things they have already spent it on.

Inthrealworld

AT last. As a resident around this area I know how much of a mess up this is. The only time it has worked is when the lights are broken. But something really needs to be done about Hundens Lane junction, it's a nightmare.

Nige Boddy

NO-ONE from outside of town knew how to use it. Might this be one of those instances when a surcharge could be applied to those who gave the through-about the go ahead in the first place?

Suzilou

I DON'T see the problem with the through-about, it's Allington Way that needs sorting with somewhere for all the lorries to park up on a night.

Homshaw

IT'S okay for much of the time, except it cost a fortune and didn't improve the traffic queues, but at rush hour it doesn't look too far away from backing up onto the ring road which would cause a big problem.

Andyleigh

I ALWAYS found it very efficient. It will be a backward step to get rid of it. But hey, it's only tax payers' money.

The challenger

I THINK this sudden u-turn by Darlington Borough Council is a knee jerk panic reaction to the fact that the town is very soon going to have thousands more residents due to the wholesale granting of building permission given to housebuilders. Darlington will very soon grind to an unimaginable standstill. They know it now they're panicking. Why else would they suddenly u-turn on such a controversial road scheme as that crazy through-about? They never ever listened to motorists and residents criticism of the scheme before.

Tornado

CAN someone pass this learning on to Middlesbrough Council? They have a through-about planned for the A66/Cargo Fleet Lane junction. Might be one for the Tees Valley Combined Authority meeting agenda.

Jimmy Magoo

AS much as I hate the through-about, I would like to think West Auckland Road will get some improvements. With more new houses at Faverdale, it will only get worse.

Bethany Darlington

THE best thing they’ve decided to do in years.

Becky Irwin

ABOUT time, some sense at last! I hope they sort out the junction outside the college and new housing estate too. That is poorly planned also and can't cope with the increased traffic from the new residents.

Andrew Vernon

JUST ten years to work out that switching the lights out and putting few cones out means it works okay as a roundabout.

Michael McGarry

I KNOW we are supposed to feel guilty about driving a car, but getting into Darlington from the surrounding towns and villages is not easy or a cheaper option by public transport. The council have consistently done all it can to make travel into and out of the town difficult. This roundabout being a good example.

Linda Brown

THE person who came up with the stupid idea should pay to have it put right. I don't know anyone who thought this roundabout was a good idea. We have been proved right.

Margaret Miller

NOT before time. It caused traffic problems.Gemma LaurenIT'S perfectly fine. I've not seen any accidents, surely there's other things the council can put their money towards.

Michael Paul Bicknell

JUST turn lights off and block the centre – simple. Job done. Cost – £10 for barriers.

Richard Farrell

I DISTINCTLY remember having a conversation with the local councillors and being told that this was the best thing since sliced bread.

Tim Ellis

WHO holds them accountable for the money wasted on this? Now more money to put it right.

Laura Beveridge

IT'S alright for me, I was learning to drive just after it was introduced. I feel sorry for the older drivers who have no idea how to use it.

Annalisa Hopkins

WHAT a joke. A complete waste of money and a library about to close. Where is the logic?

Andy Woodward

INCREDIBLE waste of money in the first place. Services reduced/closing all over town. Had the money not been wasted on the original ‘magic roundabout’ some of those services may still be open.

Alana Mackenzie

BRILLIANT, that means less congestion on a morning from our estate.

Wendy Duncan

ANOTHER shed load of money our council have wasted.

Steven Thompson

IT doesn't need to cost them that much. All you do is put boulders or barriers down on the two lanes and turn off the lights, no need to waste loads of money. I love going down there when the traffic lights don't work, everything moves and you're not sat in massive tail backs.

Shaun Barnes

A WASTE of our money. It has always worked better when the lights have been off.

Ruth Pearson

I'M glad, I hate that road. I usually look for an alternative route.

Martin Jenkins another fantastic waste of tax payer's money

Leanne Brownsword

HAVING spent all the money in the first place, why don't they just leave it alone and spend the £3m on elderly care or youth clubs? Oh and something to let folks out at the Hundens Lane exit. Life in hands when exiting there.

Michael Benson

WHEN you turn the traffic lights off and just have it as a roundabout, there’s not much queuing at any time. Our great council wasting our money again.

Mark Nunn

THANK god for common sense.

Leanne Ramshaw

THANK god for this. It's a nightmare getting out of town on a morning for work. It's the worst thing they did putting it in in first place.

Alan Hindmarch

I CAN'T see the problem with it, seems to work fine when I have used it.

Steven Morgan

TURN the lights off and close the middle. Total cost – free.

Tim Ellis

EVERYONE knew it worked best when lights were off.

Craig Herriott

GOOD. It's an absolute nightmare when you live in the area and you need to get to work.

John Mosley

JUST turn the lights off to save money.