AFTER many years away from the Westcountry, I have now returned for my retirement and am surprised to find the road system is virtually the same as 50 years ago. The roads from Callington to Launceston, Liskeard and Tavistock are unchanged. However, the road from Callington to Saltash has had millions spent on it without improving the time taken to drive between the two towns or its safety. The time driving hasn't improved because there are no overtaking sections. Surely a couple of overtaking sections could and should have been built into the system. The lovely stone-built walls are a long distance from the actual road. One gets stuck behind a tractor or other slow-moving vehicles and it is virtually impossible to overtake safely. A lot of the A303 is single carriageway but they do have overtaking sections. Regarding safety, the most dangerous section was and still is through St Mellion village. If nothing else had been done it should be been bypassed. Finally, one gets to the Saltash Tunnel and bridge. You have a four-lane road, the A38, narrowing into a three- lane tunnel (a three-lane road is the most dangerous of all roads) then after the tunnel a four-lane bridge leads into a four-lane A38 again. Why, oh why, wasn't the tunnel built with four lanes? I have travelled and lived in other countries and have never encountered such a complex road system.

M K WHITE Plymouth