A Stratton neighbour has criticised newly re-routed bus journeys that now travel through a housing estate.
After the Adver covered concerns about Stagecoach's decision to send the Number 10 service through Queensfield, giving residents the option to 'hail and ride' the public transport as there are no stops located in the neighbourhood, a reader wrote in to voice his views.
James Croton, of Upper Stratton, said: "I read with interest the article concerning the new routing for the number ten Stagecoach bus.
"It strikes me that Stagecoach has a very odd way of consulting with the pubic. It seems to go along the line of telling the local authority what they have in mind and leaving it at that. Swindon Borough Council didn't pass that information on to us although the Adver did carry a brief story some weeks ago with incomplete detail.
"This "exciting new route" is far from it. In routing the buses through Queensfield, the Stagecoach traffic planners must be insane.
"The roads are very tight and, as mentioned are used as a rat run by people trying to get between Cricklade Road and Hyde Road.
"Some of the blame for this lies with SBC, as the exit from the southbound A419 to Upper Stratton was sealed off some years ago when, we were promised, Arkwright Road would be opened onto Hyde Road. That never happened.
"The right turn from Queensfield onto Cricklade Road is a nightmare at the best of times and is not suitable for buses or any other large vehicle.
"The right turn at Kingsdown traffic lights is a similar nightmare which frequently sees vehicles queuing back up Hyde Road.
"The delays caused by these bottlenecks have meant that buses from Meadowcroft to town are now invariably late, typically by six or more minutes.
"If I had been asked what bus service I would want from Upper Stratton, I would have replied that the old numbers 3 and 4 services should be reinstated.
"One of these ran from the bus station to Gorse Hill, Upper Stratton then to Lower Stratton, Greenbridge and back to the bus station via Shrivenham Road. The other bus did the opposite journey.
"These buses linked both halves of Stratton, provided access to our General Practitioners, the Greenbridge shops and Tesco (although it didn't exist back then).
"Now it is number seven services for Highworth that have to divert through lower Stratton while number 10s meander aimlessly from the Link Centre to the Orbital, taking an age to do so.
"I'm sure that Highworth bus users would sooner have a direct route to Swindon and I feel certain that Stratton folk would appreciate having access to all parts.
"Consider that the following roads now have virtually no bus service: Hyde Road / Ermin Street between the Kingsdown and The Crown; Hathaway Road and Hobley Drive / Swindon Road between the Crown and the New Inn.
"Stagecoach's direction is a disaster for us bus users."
The transport provider said that the re-routing has been carried out to retain as much service as possible following the removal of Service 4 between Tadpole Garden Village and Swindon, due to funding cuts, while introducing new links between Kingsdown and the Orbital Retail Park.
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