PRESS RELEASE 4TH MARCH 2008
GROUP AGAINST MOTORWAY EXPANSION
Ruth Kelly, Transport Secretary, has today announced an intention to roll out the use of the hard shoulder to reduce congestion on motorways. She said "The results of a Department for Transport feasibility study highlight large sections of the M1, M6 and M62, where improvements are already planned, as amongst the most likely to benefit from hard shoulder running." A map of the motorway network shows that the M6 has potential to be used for this.
The Department for Transport will now be working on detailed proposals for specific stretches of road. This will also include "active traffic management" including measures such as car-sharing lanes.
"GAME" the Group against Motorway Expansion which has been campaigning against the proposed widening of the M6 through Staffordshire and Cheshire , gave a guarded welcome to the announcement. Alison Crane said "We are hopeful that this means the end of any plans to widen the motorway, but we will be pressing our MPs to ascertain that this is the case. It is also good news that the government are considering the sort of creative schemes to manage traffic such as speed limits and car-sharing that we have been advocating as a short-term response to congestion. However, hard shoulder running still allows an increase in the capacity of the motorway. GAME has always been clear that the only sustainable, long-term solution to congestion and the effects of transport on climate change is to cut traffic levels by reducing the need to travel"
Notes to editor:
1. Ruth Kelly's announcement: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=357439&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False
2. For more details please phone Alison Crane on 01785 611768 or 07886 972319
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2 comments:
Its not good for people who break down, it may cost lives. Its worse for disabled people who oftern cannot get out of their vehicles and await recovery from the safety of the grass verge.
Motorway widening is alomost completely unnecessary given that the existing network is underused due to bad lane disipline. See Middle-lane hogs clog a third of our motorways
A simple solution would be police enforcement, as used to occur 20 years ago, but road traffic police have been cut by some 60%.
:-(
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