Transport secretary Philip Hammond announced the go-ahead for a host of new road transport schemes after announcing cuts to public transport plans as part of last week’s Spending Review.
Marking the end of Labour’s ‘war on the motorist’, the new Coalition government announced that major upgrades to relieve congestion through widening or managed motorways schemes are approved to take place on the M60, M1, M62, M25, M6 and A556.
In addition the transport secretary gave approval for; improvements to M5 J29, a new bypass to the north of Lancaster, connecting the port of Heysham to the M6; improvements on the A57 east of M1 J31, near Todwick, a new road in Taunton and a new single carriageway bypass in Sefton along with a further £600 million investment pot which councils will be able to seek grants from to fund improvements.
The announcement of investment into the road network follows last week’s revelation that subsidies paid to bus companies would be cut while rail fares are set to rise by three percentage points above inflation.
Announcing the funding for road projects, Philip Hammond said: “Whilst we have had to make some tough choices, I am pleased that spending on transport was treated as a priority for the Government in the Spending Review.
“This Government sees transport as a key driver of growth nationally and in the regions.”
However green groups and public transport lobbies have criticise the decision to invest further in roads over rail and public transport. The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) called on the Government to rethink its focus on road transport at the expense of rail and other services.
CBT’s Road and Climate Campaigner, Richard George, said: “Instead of drawing a line under these damaging road schemes, and helping find cheaper solutions, the Government wants councils to find more money to keep their road scheme alive. The only realistic way these schemes can go ahead is if councils take an axe to their public services.”
What do you think? Should we be investing further into the road network while councils and the Government are trying to reduce national debt or is it an essential part of working our way back to prosperity? And what about the environmental impact of approving the schemes?
