SIR: The Green Party campaigner for Winchester's letter in your last edition suggests spending money on cycle routes rather than redeveloping Junction 9 of the M3, "which would help us all to use our cars less." It will only "help us all to use our cars less" if cycling can replace car use. I can walk to the village shop and do so often, but I cannot see me or anyone else in South Wonston cycling five or six miles to the Tesco Extra at Winnall in bad weather and cycling back home laden down with a weekly shop. I doubt if the staff who drive to work at South Wonston school will switch to cycling to get to work. They could do that now if it was feasible. And the same applies to the many mums who do the school run to South Wonston and to their children, most of whom are too young to ride safely on our roads.

Excuse the pun, but the Green Party is simply peddling the same old policy. More seriously, HGV drivers, bus drivers and white van man are not able to switch to bicycles to do their jobs, but the Green Party ignores their needs altogether.

Worst of all, the Green Party simply ignores the increasing congestion at Junction 9 and does not address that problem at all. Cycling is no solution to that. It is just a red herring.

Christopher Sharratt,

Waverley Drive,

South Wonston

SIR: Malcolm Wallace (Chronicle, Letters, July 29) suggests that the c. £175m projected to upgrade M3 Junction 9 should be spent instead on creating 400 miles of new cycle routes in Hampshire.

Junction 9 is busy because it serves long distance travellers to and from Winchester, and the many commercial vehicles moving goods to and from the Winnall industrial area. It is also the point where a major highway from the Midlands (A34) meets a major highway from London (M3) to deliver goods and travellers to and from the conurbations, beaches, ports and airports of the south coast.

Cycling is not an option for any of these journeys. Cycling is also not a realistic option for most pensioner and shopping journeys, many journeys in bad weather or indeed any commute or take-way delivery further than about three miles. Well over 90 per cent of cycling is surely recreational.

People may be priced out of their cars, but an additional 400 miles of cycle routes in Hampshire will neither replace any measurable car mileage, nor contribute one iota to saving our planet.

Tim Major,

Bassett Wood Drive,

Southampton