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Motoring news

Roadbuilding decade must be 'guaranteed'

24/02/2010

Roadbuilding improvements must be prominent among transport priorities over the next decade in order to drive the UK economy forwards, according to a business group.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has produced a list of 13 "crucial projects" - 10 of them road improvements - which it calculates would have the greatest benefit to regional economies. The improvements are essential in the next 10 years, the BCC says, although it acknowledges the need for spending cuts to reduce the UK's budget deficit.

In addition to calling for a third Heathrow runway, the London Crossrail system, and a new Manchester rail hub, the proposals include major road improvements across the UK.

Among the most ambitious would be a replacement for the Forth Bridge - at a cost of £1.4 billion - planned improvements to the A14 in the east of England, and an M4 relief road in Wales.

If the 13 projects were accomplished, the BCC estimates that they would generate £85 billion for the economy but require a funding outlay of £29.8 billion, which it envisages would be met roughly equally between the private and the public sectors.

And the group said it is essential that "both the funding and the political will to construct them [is] guaranteed" - regardless of the pressure on public finances.

BCC director-general David Frost said: "A government focused on the UK's future economic success must do everything it can to protect investment in priority transport projects.

"These infrastructure improvements will not only unlock much needed economic growth, but will also help the hard-pressed UK construction sector and local businesses in the supply chain."

However, lobby group the Campaign for Better Transport, which last month lambasted the Government's roadbuilding decision-making process, spoke out against the "siren calls from business voices".

Referring to the Department for Transport's recently-published Sustainable Travel Towns report, the group's roads and climate change campaigner Richard George said: "As the British Chambers of Commerce calls for unaffordable and destructive roads, new evidence shows that smart local transport measures can tackle traffic problems now.

"Travel plans for schools and workplaces combined with good information and local cycling improvements have cut car use in target towns and massively increased cycling and bus use.

"We want the next government to invest in just this type of sustainable transport, not massive road projects that lead to bigger, wider traffic jams."