M ore than three decades ago Bob Dylan had some pithy
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advice for conventional society: "Your old road is rapidly agein', please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand... for the times they are a changin',"
Now, as protests against nuclear tests, live animal transport and the building of roads continue to escalate, his words take on a prophetic ring. The latest confrontation between what might be termed straight society and those who seek change has been taking place at forested land above the sleepy riverside town of Newbury in Berkshire. Much of the land is now deforested as the earthmovers and tree cutters denude the landscape in preparation for the construction of a controversial bypass adjacent to the A34. But is the road really needed?
The Highways Agency says it is. Newbury presents the only hold-up on a Euro route leading from Midlands in the north to Southampton in the south.
However, when CM visited the site last month, two things became apparent: Newbury town centre is already bypassed by the A34, so the new road will, in effect, bypass a bypass, while the chosen method of dealing with the perceived traffic problem is by no means universally popular, even among hauliers.
The new road will run for up to nine miles passing through Snelsmore Common which protesters claim is an SSSI (site of special scientific interest). Traffic passing through Newbury is principally held up on a twomile stretch of road passing through the Robin Hood roundabout towards Oxford in the north or Winchester in the south.
When CM visited the roundabout, one freezing February night, between 17:00hrs and 18:30hrs, the rush-hour traffic slowed down but never stopped moving. Lorries, cars and vans passed by at a rate of up to 35 a minute. Hauliers included Dukes, Securicor, Booker, Taylor Barnard and Roger Bullivant and Autocarriers certainly provided evidence that the route is of major importance to freight.
By 18:30 the rush was over and traffic was flowing through the roundabout perfectly normally. Certainly, no Londoner would complain about such conditions. The following morning there was some evidence of traffic bunching at around 10:00hrs as traffic flowed through Newbury toward Oxford.
But given the controversy that has dogged the road project, could not another route have been found or an alternative solution such as better traffic management or a flyover?
When the final bill is totted up, the additional security and delays caused by the protesters must add significantly to the cost of the chosen option. The Highways Agency is adamant that all the options were explored in two public enquiries, in which views were invited from all interested parties, including environmental groups.