IT was with dismay and horror that I read of the proposed development of the Royal Pier and surrounding areas for the provision of yet more shops, bars, restaurants etc (Daily Echo, September 6).

Surely the first priorty should be a transport plan that separates shopping traffic from trunk traffic and cruise traffic. It only takes an Isle of Wight ferry to arrive to cause chaos and the arrival of a cruise ship in the old docks causes mayhem.

With the further development of West Quay, which may feature an Ikea store, the docks area is surely heading for gridlock regularly.

Perhaps the planners should take a leaf out of Portsmouth's book, where the motorway takes you direct to the ferry terminal. The answer lies in the re-siting of Red Funnel Ferries into the new docks.

This would alleviate the bottleneck along Platform Road, Town Quay and Mayflower Park.

ABP should be required to open up the road that runs through the new docks to trunk and cruise traffic as far as Millbrook, thus enabling this traffic access to the berths without having to mingle with the shopping traffic heading for WestQuay.

On August 21, two cruise ships arrived and traffic chaos reigned.

It took 90 minutes to travel along West Quay Road to the Itchen Bridge. Heaven knows what the passengers thought of Southampton having to sit in traffic chaos for this length of time, hardly a great welcome home.

Once a good traffic flow has been achieved then perhaps we can look forward to a joined-up waterfront development that is open to all to enjoy.

Also look at Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quay and see the access roads and how much parking is there!

MRS DIANE ADAMS, Netley.