 Alliance against road building |
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Alliance against road building |
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PRESS RELEASE – 18th October 2005
GOVERNMENT GIVES ROADS GO AHEADS DESPITE COST ESCALATION
Today the government gave the go-ahead to three local authority road schemes,
all of which have increased in cost [1]. One of the schemes,
the Papworth Everard Bypass in Cambridgeshire, has almost doubled in cost.
Research by CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) has shown that almost
the entire roads programme is experiencing significant cost escalation [2].
Cost escalation is frequently given as a reason to pull the plug on funding
for public transport schemes, including tram schemes at Manchester, Liverpool,
Leeds and Portsmouth.
In a government report published last year [3], it concluded
that investing in 'smarter choices' and 'soft measures' to persuade people
to use alternatives to the car is usually more cost effective that building
roads.
Rebecca Lush of Road Block said:
"It is time that the government stopped wasting valuable funds of futile
road building, and instead invested in sustainable alternatives. Alternatives
to catering for traffic growth are cheaper, greener, and will give longer
lasting benefits. More road building leads to more traffic, and we all suffer
as a result. Roads represent bad value for money, and a bad deal for the environment.
The government is acting hypocritically by allowing expensive roads to go
ahead, yet cancelling public transport schemes when the costs rise too."
Notes to Editors:
[1]The three schemes given the go-ahead are: