Room for progress Blue Circle pla
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applied for a freeport site BLUE CIRCLE INDUSTRIES h THE MOTORWAY maintenance going very well, but there is s Minister Lynda Chalker said at a Engineers in London last week.
Recalling the comments of the House of Commons Transport Committee and the Freight Transport Association, she said: "We shall still press for more progress in road maintenance."
The motorways are our assets and so must be protected, she said. "Roadworks are tiresome, everyone realises that, but we do try to keep them to the minimum."
She said that the DTp phased its work so that simultaneous repair work on adjacent sections of motorways never occurred. She said that the efforts made by the DTp had been rewarded. "We are building 70 to 80 miles of three-lane motorway each year," she said. "And these new stretches are designed to carry the weight of traffic over the next 20 years."
Public utilities also came under discussion, with Mrs Chalker calling for a closer examination of the problems caused to roads by repairs to underground installations. She called for an update of the 1950 Streets Work Utilities Act, which dealt with traffic volumes considerably less than today. She said that some improvements were necessary in this field.
Also speaking at the meeting was FTA planning and traffic services controller Richard Turner. He welcomed the DTp's proposed track cost changes which took more account of the types of roads used by lorries.
He outlined one example of the 32.5 tonne vehicle being costed at £6,730 and paying ved of £5,850. But under the new proposals, the Government now recognised that the vehicle only caused costs of £5,550. Therefore it paid its way, Mr Turner said. "This works in all the vehicle classes and so there can be no doubt that they pay their way."
Mr Turner also mentioned the way overloading statistics were calculated. He pointed out that a recent survey carried out by Kent County Council (see p10) showed that 41 per cent of lorries weighed were overloaded. He said that these figures were not realistic as the vehicle spotters only stopped vehicles that looked overloaded.
Mr Turner also highlighted a few misconceptions about overloading. A 14 tonne two axle rigid has a payload of 8.5 tonnes. If the driver unloads two tonnes of the payload then the vehicle can become overloaded by one tonne on one axle. "But in this overload condition the vehicle is 20 per cent kinder to the road than before," he said.
Overloading is a red herring, he said. The maximum penalty is now £1,000 for such offences and this should act as a suitable deterrent.