1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
Truckers face go-slow
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Britain's roads are grinding to a halt, warns the Institution of Civil Engineers. Its report, Congestion, recommends a package of radical measures, such as reducing HGV speed limits and forcing trucks to stay in motorway crawler lanes. Lack of government funding in the seventies and early eighties has brought the road system to crisis point, says the ICE report. Vehicle ownership has increased by 900% since the early fifties, and CV mileage has risen by 22% in the past five years to 23.61 billion kilometres a year. "The transport network is now subject to pressure which threatens to precipitate a seizure: a situation in which the centres of cities, and London in particular, become choked and paralysed for many hours," says Congestion. It believes there is a strong case for reducing the speed limit for HGVs to its former level of 80km/h (50mph) because of stopping distances at higher speeds. ICE also wants crawler lanes for HGVs be cause "on hills, the slow speed of fully laden HGVs can obstruct the flow of traffic causing major tailbacks. On a fourlane carriageway they should be confined to the two nearside lanes," it says. "This is not speculation. It has already happened and is likely to recur with increasing frequency." The report says that in view of the lengthy period of time involved in the planning and construction of a new transport infrastructure — 10 to 15 years — there is no possibility of solving congestion, just containing it — and then only if transport planning is properly co-ordinated. Other recommendations for immediate action include modifying the demands on road and rail networks, making the most of existing roads, and modifying road usage. The report cites accidents as a significant cause of congestion on the inter-urban road systems and when HGVs are involved the result is frequently prolonged delay and serious restriction of traffic flow.
Congetion is available from the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1-7 Great George St, London SW1, priced £18.