Roads and Road-Building

There's too much traffic on our roads. Traffic causes pollution and congestion, and vehicle emissions contribute to climate change.

Did you know? Traffic levels on Britain's roads have doubled in the last 25 years. (Transport Statistics Great Britain 2003)

Road building and widening to cater for more traffic has been tried time and time again and isn't the answer.

Road-building is pointless and destructive

The government's own studies have shown that road-building generates more traffic. So new and widened roads simply fill up with traffic. Sections of the M25 widened in the 1990s filled up again within a few years.

M25 nightmare

Yet the government is even now undertaking a futile excercise to widen the M25 between Junctions 12 and 15 on the western edge of London.

Road building wrecks countryside, towns and open spaces. It destroys wildlife sites and fragments and pollutes those that are left.

Road-building is very expensive. New roads cost billions of pounds; money which could be better spend on schemes to promote walking, cycling and public transport.

Traffic evaporation

It is now accepted (at least in private) by most people that building and widening roads simply generates more traffic. By the same token, taking away road space reduces traffic.

The alternatives

Despite all this, road building and road-widening is still being promoted. In the borough of Ealing, an extra lane is being added to the North Circular road, just north of Ealing Common. And there is lobbying for a brand new 'bypass' for Southall.

If not roads...then what?

• Better public transport - more bus and train services, better reliability, more bus lanes and low-floor vehicles.
• Safer streets for cycling and walking - lower speed limits in residential areas, safer walking routes and improved UK cycle routes.

Friends of the Earth says: The Government should be spending less on road-building and more on car alternatives.

Links

M25 widening
See also traffic page
Back to transport introduction

Jan 05