Alliance against road building

PRESS RELEASE – 8th November 2006

ROADBUILDING DOES NOT BOOST REGENERATION

Reacting today to the announcement of the opening of the £55 million A500 road scheme [1] Road Block Coordinator Rebecca Lush said:

"Roadbuilding does not regenerate local areas. More roads cause traffic to grow, creating extra pollution and more CO2 emissions. The £55 million spent on this scheme would have been better spent improving public transport in Stoke, and making cycling and walking more attractive. "

The 1999 report by the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) Transport and the Economy [2], studied how roadbuilding impacts on the local and regional and national economy. It concluded that roadbuilding does not bring economic prosperity, and if fact the opposite is usually the case with economic activity being sucked out of local areas as people move further away to shop and work.

Road Block also noted that costs of this scheme had escalated by 123 per cent since it was first approved at a cost of £24 million.

Notes to Editors:

[1] Department for Transport press statement - £55m improvements to A500 will boost regeneration in Stoke-on-Trent
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=240639&NewsAreaID=2

[2] Transport and the Economy by SACTRA, published 9 August 1999
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_econappr/documents/page/dft_econappr_504935.hcsp