Campaign for Better Transport has written to the Transport
Secretary Louise Haigh, urging her to cancel ‘large and
unnecessary' road projects - including the £9 billion Lower
Thames Crossing and the £1.5 billion A66 Northern Trans-Pennine
scheme - and to invest in public transport instead.
The letter calls on the Transport Secretary not to grant a
Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Lower Thames Crossing on
4 October, and to revoke DCOs for other ‘unaffordable' schemes
signed off under the previous government, including the A66
Northern Trans-Pennine Road.
The letter argues that rather than basing the need for new road
schemes on increasing capacity for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs),
the Government should instead invest in rail freight upgrades as
an alternative to road building which would free up existing road
space for a fraction of the cost.
Michael Solomon of Campaign for Better Transport,
said: “Spending £9 billion on a road that can't even carry a bus
is utterly nonsensical and if approved by the Transport Secretary
would completely undermine the Government's net-zero commitments.
Building new roads doesn't cut congestion, it does the opposite.
Investing in public transport and rail freight is the best way to
cut congestion, free up road space and grow the economy for only
a fraction of the cost.”
The letter is cosigned by Transport Action Network and the Rail
Freight Group.
Chris Todd, Director of Transport Action Network said: "If we are
to improve productivity and kickstart growth we need to make sure
we're investing in infrastructure that delivers. Many schemes in
the roads program simply don't, they make things worse. We need
to repurpose that funding to drive modal shift, accelerate
decarbonisation, protect nature and improve health and
wellbeing."
Maggie Simpson OBE, Director General of Rail Freight Group said:
‘Investing in rail freight is key to meeting Government's targets
for economic growth and climate change. Upgrading the freight
network will enable more businesses to use rail, keeping HGVs off
the road and reducing transport carbon emissions'
ENDS
Read the letter to Louise Haigh
in full.
Notes to Editors
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The Lower Thames Crossing aims to connect Kent and Essex via
a 14-mile, six lane road tunnel under the Thames which will
not carry buses or have cycle access and is estimated to cost
£9 billion. A proposed light rail alternative, ‘KenEx Tram',
would cost just £800 million.
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In July, the Government announced the cancellation of several
road building projects including the A303 Stonehenge
tunnel.
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In its submission to the urgent
review of the UK Department for Transport's infrastructure
capital spending portfolio, Transport Action Network has
identified 16 proposed road expansions totaling £15bn which
it argues should either be cancelled outright or at least
paused for further scrutiny.
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