Big boost for roads budget o fi f n 0 e - d lic fo e r n l c a e ck
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Guy Sheppard Road building could be in line for a huge cash boost following a government rethink on how to cope with the problem of worsening traffic congestion.
Controversial schemes such as the A36 Salisbury bypass and the A49 Hereford bypass could be revived under a £140bn 10-year transport plan when Chancellor Gordon Brown publishes his summer spending review.
Public transport will receive much of the cash, which will come from private and public sector sources. But the number of new bypasses will increase significantly.
In December, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott promised to "tackle congestion bottlenecks, improving journey times and making life easier for motorists and business". He added: "We will also increase the number of bypasses to be constructed."
According to the British Road Federation, which includes the Road Haulage and Freight Transport associations among its membership, there has been a further government shift in favour of road building since then.
"Rumours in the press of 1140bn for roads and rail are consistent with that," says BRF head of policy Andrew Tesseyman. "It is encouraging the government recognises the scale of the problem and the investment needed to address the problem."
But environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth warns that most people are strongly opposed to new roads. It claims that building them could lose Labour the next election.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport says the £140bn figure is pure speculation but adds: "This depart
merit has always made it clear that roads are part of the transport network and we want to enhance the whole of the transport network."
• See next week's issue for details of the government's new Traffic Control Centre.
4 A salvage company boss who decided to take on some haulage work has been fined a total of £400 with £85 costs on four charges after claiming he was misled by traffic experts about an Operator's Licence.
Keith Jones, who runs Reclamation Salvage, near Stourbridge, Worcestershire, pleaded guilty to not having an 0-licence; using a vehicle without the mandatory two-year inspection of its tachograph equipment; and two counts of failing to return tachograph records within 21days.
Andrew Fletcher, defending, said Jones had been told by traffic experts at Dever that he did not need an 0-licence because he was carrying railway sleepers for his own use and not for a customer.