Government Command Paper: Action for Roads

The Government today announced the detail of its promised £28bn investment in England’s roads in its Action for Roads – A network for the 21st century – document.

RAC technical director David Bizley said: “This is good news for motorists as significant spending on maintaining and developing our road network is badly needed, but the key element is the decision to publish a Roads Investment Strategy with the funding underwritten by legislation.

“This is the first step in re-establishing trust between the Government and the motorist in the development and maintenance of our major roads and the proposal to introduce a roads watchdog will also make an important contribution to rebuilding trust. The inclusion of a National Policy Statement should help to speed up the planning process and is therefore a positive step which recognises the importance of turning plans into delivery with a real sense of urgency.

“The decision to follow the recommendations of the Cook Report and make the Highways Agency a more commercial entity that is still ultimately responsible to the Government should enable the agency to operate more efficiently and effectively; and this can only benefit motorists, and indeed all tax payers.

“These plans must not be blown off course by changing governments or by any new priorities that may emerge because it is essential that our motorways and major roads are run as efficiently and effectively as possible. The paper notes that some projects will extend beyond the medium-term funding horizon of the Roads Investment Strategy and we hope that Government will continue to look at options to ring-fence some of the £40bn-plus per year of motoring taxes to create a genuine long-term funding stream for roads maintenance and development to underwrite such projects.

“This bold investment plan must be delivered on time and within budget so that motorists and businesses can reap the benefits and we see a genuine reduction in congestion and poor road surfaces. This will ensure the strategic road network is an enabler, rather than an inhibitor of economic growth.

Expressways

“It’s welcome that minimum standards are to be established for the most important A roads as these form an essential part of many journeys. Any journey is, of course, only as good as its weakest point and the investment in motorway capacity will not realise its full potential without investment in the A-roads that are an equally important component of getting from A to B.”

Cyclists and walkers

“It’s good that cyclists and walkers have not been neglected. We know that many motorists are also cyclists so the commitment to correct historic cycle safety problems and recognise cyclists’ needs in the new schemes is a positive move for all road users.”