Pressure mounts on M25 link roads
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by Amanda Bradbury
• Treasury pressure is forcing ministers to reconsider their decision to make Britain's busiest stretch of road into a 14lane superhighway.
In 1992 a L270m plan was announced to build three-lane link roads either side of the 1v125 between the M3 exit at Junction 12 and the .M4 at Junction 15. This plan is now under attack.
However, it is understood that proposals to widen the motorway to four lanes are not affected by the squeeze on Government spending.
The Department of Transport's share of departmental funds, to be officially unveiled by the Treasury after the Budget on 29 November, is understood to be ''very poor" this year.
The recent welcoming of the Royal Commission's report on environmental pollution—which specifically criticised the linkroad proposal—and pressure by Tory MPs in affected areas of Surrey is also putting pressure on the DOT.
Officials in the department have ordered computer modelling of the effect of the link roads on traffic volumes. In a month's time they will receive the results of a local study by Runnymede Borough Council.
A spokesman for the authori. ty, which takes in Egham, Chertsey and Addlestone, says the project is very likely to show that the links will create more traffic on local roads.
A spokesman for Surrey County Council says it is also concerned about the prospect of additional traffic and is preparing modelling of the link roads' effects over the whole of the South-East.