THERE'S a sparkling little philosophical gem that maintains a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world will cause an earthquake on the other side of the globe, such is the precarious balance of existence.

So runs the logic of the celebrated chaos theory and it seems particularly apt when we come to consider Worcester's 21st century traffic nightmare. However, for butterfly, read a hole in the road and gridlock ensues across the entire city - or in this case, the even worse scenario of a key bridge being closed for three months.

County council bosses are caught between a rock and hard place. Three months of work on Teme Bridge will cause massive delays that would undoubtedly hit the local economy, hence the call to have contractors working around the clock during the school holidays. However, the problem with this would be the cost to the hard-pressed taxpayer as overtime payments presumably went through the roof.

It's certainly a tricky one. Whatever happens, Bromyard Road and Bransford Road would be severely compromised by either option, while on the other side of the city, Bath Road and even London Road could feel the consequences of the butterfly effect'.

Whatever happens, there are some trying times ahead. It seems to us that regardless of time scales, damage limitation is the only way this vital work can be undertaken with minimum inconvenience. Traffic management therefore may be the answer - and that would mean a sophisticated, fit-for-purpose network of traffic lights combined with a re-routing programme. It might not be a solution, but it's a start.