Sir - As congestion charging or tolls on the A34 ring-road have been given short shrift by the county council (Road pricing is step closer May 25), it would be interesting to know what alternative solutions are being investigated, given that the road is dangerous and heavily congested with too many lorries - a situation in need of urgent attention.

Interestingly, the chief architect of the London congestion charge, Derek Turner CBE (Highways Agency National Traffic Director), was at Oxford University last week, speaking at the British Computer Society's AGM on the challenges of implementing the project.

He related the challenges involved in devising it, implementing it on time and overcoming political differences between himself - a conservative appointed by John Major - and Ken Livingstone, so they could work together and achieve success against fierce media opposition.

Maybe if similar determination was applied in Oxford, even across political divides, a solution might be found, rather than hoping the problem might just disappear.

Regular users of the A34 such as myself allow extra contingency time each morning because of the regular accidents and hold-ups on this stretch, usually involving lorries. On that same Thursday morning I was only seconds behind an HGV which jack-knifed and ploughed into the hard-shoulder near Didcot, causing tailbacks as far as Botley. Incidents such as this occur regularly, often at the cost of a life, so all remedial suggestions should be considered, unpopular or otherwise.

John McGhee Kennington