Responding to the RAC Report on Motoring which reveals a
rise in complaints about congestion on major roads, Cllr Martin
Tett, Local Government Association Transport spokesman,
said:
“This survey highlights the congestion challenge we face as
a nation. Congestion can have a significant impact on our towns,
cities and communities, and act as a drag on local growth. Worse
still, it can lead to toxic air and reduced quality of
life.
“The average motorist is spending a working
week every year sat in traffic on major roads, and losing almost
a £1,000 in the process. With eight-and-a-half
million more vehicles on our roads since 2000, it’s no wonder it
would now take £12 billion and a decade to clear the nation’s
road repair backlog.
“Councils are working hard to combat traffic and congestion
but need to be able to do more to tackle this growing problem.
Long-term, consistent funding is needed for them to invest in
local roads and introduce attractive alternatives to car
journeys, such as through public transport, walking and
cycling.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
A recent report from the LGA, ‘A country in a jam:
tackling congestion in our towns and cities’ is
available here.
There are now 151 vehicles per mile on our roads compared
to just 119 vehicles per mile in
2000, ratcheting up the pressure on local
roads.
The average travel speed on local ‘A’ roads is just 25
miles per hour, a 1 per cent decrease from a year ago.
Councils fill a pothole every 19 seconds and are dealing
with a £12 billion backlog of road repairs that would take a
decade to clear.
