Re: ‘Who set the traffic woes we have today' (The Weekend Sun, July 29).

Bill Faulkner's letter on the loss of bridge tolls - I was a member of the Tolls Action Group, which successfully campaigned for the removal of tolls on the harbour bridge. And I'm proud of it.

It was not only morally wrong of Tauranga City Council to be demanding tolls from bridge users to pay for other Tauranga roads, when more than $100 million had been collected for a $25 million bridge.

But as Mr Faulkner admits, it was also of dubious legality. The refusal of TCC to prosecute the hundreds - possibly thousands - of bridge users who were refusing to pay the toll prior to its removal adds weight to the accusation that the collection of bridge tolls for other roading purposes was illegal.

Full credit must be given to Tauranga MP of the time, Winston Peters, who successfully negotiated for the Government to pay for the construction of the second harbour bridge and the Chapel St flyover.

Is it possible Tauranga City Councils, both then and since, having received such substantial roading support from these two sources, have with the removal of these ‘crutches' been unable to ‘stand on their own feet' and provide the necessary roading improvements needed for Tauranga's growth. And hence the present shameful gridlock at peak times?

D Campbell, Gate Pa.