WHY, why, why, whenever a motorist gets held up do they blame the poor old cyclist? Christopher Penfold (Postbag, January 29), had not even seen a cyclist but, of course, that poor innocent person on a bike was to blame for him running the gauntlet between oncoming traffic and for being late again.

The work starting to create pedestrian and cyclist shared-use paths where Wain-a-long Road and St Mark’s Avenue join St Mark’s roundabout will hopefully enable more cyclists to use this junction more safely. Mr Penfold claims that cyclists are rarely seen at these junctions and that money would have been better spent resolving the difficulty in emerging from these roads.

The scarcity of cyclists at these junctions can certainly be explained by the high volume of traffic that puts off even hardened cyclists.

Whether it is children cycling to school, shoppers pedalling to the shops or commuting cyclists on their way to work in Salisbury, this small improvement will provide another small link in the Salisbury cycle network.

At a time when we are encouraged to take up exercise, cycling provides an everyday, low-impact, cheap and fun activity – so to all those cyclists that use this new route when it is finished, smile and give a little wave to Mr Penfold as he is trying to get out of his junction!

Dr Jimmy Walker

Salisbury