The government has revealed how it plans to devote the £15billion it has earmarked for improvements to England’s ne2rk of trunk roads and motorways as element of its ‘roads revolution’.
As we outlined last month, the government is upgrading some of the UK’s busiest and most problematic roads and it has nowadays revealed this will involve 100 road improvement schemes and add 1,300 new miles of additional lanes to current motorways and A roads.
The plans had been announced by Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, who said: “I am setting out the largest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades. It will substantially improve our road ne2rk and unlock Britain’s economic prospective.”
Light at the finish of the tunnel?
Among the improvements outlined are plans to turn the M53 motorway in Wirral into a ‘smart motorway’, with varying speed limits and occasional use of the challenging shoulder allowed to ease congestion, and make the A1 a dual carriageway from London to Ellingham, 25 miles south of the Scottish border.
There will also be improvements to the M62 amongst Manchester and Leeds, and the A27 along the south coast, upgrades to the east-west connection to Norfolk by means of the A47 and A11, as well as work on M25 junctions and the M42 east of Birmingham.
Arguably the most ambitious program even though is the tunnel under Stonehenge as part of upgrades to the A303 and A358.
Road to ruin?
But will the plans ever see the light of day?
It is not unusual for governments to announce massive plans for the roads – specifically with an election looming – only to place them on ice when budgets get a tighter.
This happened under the Conservatives in the late 1980s when the biggest building programme because the Romans was shelved, and also beneath the last Labour government in 2007 when it stopped plans to tunnel below Stonehenge amid spiralling charges.
The present coalition government has previous form when it comes to cancelling projects and cutting road maintenance budgets – the shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, was keen to point out “infrastructure output has fallen significantly considering that Might 2010”.
In other words, it’s anyone’s guess how much of the function will really be carried out.
As you can see from the government graphics below, the Strategic Road Ne2rk (SRN) is currently overworked and so some significant improvements do require to be produced.
Why the Strategic Road Ne2rk (SRN) demands investment
Are modifications to the Highways Agency the key?
The government also plans to turn the Highways Agency into a government-owned organization to make confident funding can be allocated on a longer-term basis and give it a assured price range every single 5 years.
In theory, this must bring about a change in how roads are planned and constructed, allowing for longer-term investment and arranging and, eventually, cutting road-building costs.
As ever even though, we’ll have to sit tight and see what the future brings.
What do you feel? Will these plans ever see the light of day? Or will this and possibly any successive governments revert to variety and shelve the plans? Let us know…
Govt hails £15bn roads ‘revolution’
