Taken as Read
Page 69
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Atka! Commentary By JANUS WE should be spared a good deal of repetitive verbiage if a code word or phrase could be devised as a conventional abbreviation to mean, rughly speaking, that an adequate system of major 'ads is needed urgently or else the nation perisheth. he inadequacy of the present system is described by ay of introduction to almost every article, speech, amphlet or Government report dealing with the roads. arliamentary debates are held regularly in which the ed for better roads is reiterated by one speaker after lother. To make the issue more confusing, the linister of Transport and his Parliamentary Secretary -e in no way behind the rest.
An approved signal indicating that the diatribe can : taken as read should commend itself to the London id Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee. Their port for 1953 is number 28, and it is very likely that eh one begins with a lament for the roads that are it there. The latest version speaks of anxiety which e committee "cannot conceal." Their vehemence ay account for the fact that they repeat themselves ice and leave the reader uncertain as to their meaning. The Minister is praised a little frigidly for the protmtne of road improvements announced last Decemr. This included the Cromwell Road extension and one two other plans for London, but the committee are satisfied because the Minister' has not yet authord an immediate start with the major road improvents "vitally necessary to improve traffic circulation in : inner area." A few lines later the committee urge t the Minister should set up another committee to tsider the project for a ring road which was
indoned in 1950. ,
his project, say the committee, is bold and imagina:, even if difficult and expensive. It would substanly reduce traffic in the inner area, and do away with need for many of the road improvements in that t which the London County Council now consider essary and the committee are urging the Minister to 'ertake. The committee leave the impression that I want two things, one of which will make the other ecessary.
Willing to Join Them
he Minister might therefore find some difficulty in ig exactly what the Committee recommend, although vould no doubt be willing to join them in giving gnal which could be taken to mean that better Is are desirable. His main excuse for going no ler would be the expense involved. This, of course, it the concern of the committee. It is worth noting, ever, that on another matter they not only make estions but point out how the expense can be met.
St over a year ago the working party on car parking re inner area of London issued a report in favour nderground and multi-storey overground garages, ing meters on authorized street parking places, and ional restrictions on waiting in other streets. The mg meters, it was said, would assist in financing arages. With one dissentient, the main committee accepted the working party's report. Other people, ;ularly those marked out as users of the proposed as and parking meters, have been less enthusiastic. Better roads are needed and deserved, but cost too much; the user, who is taxed for the roads he does not get, is not pleased to be told that he must take his vehicles off the road and pay for doing so.
Some other details in the committee's report will not be universally popular. The Minister has now accepted their proposals for prohibiting the loading or unload, ing of vehicles between certain times in certain streets. At some spots the ban will last for seven hours during the busy part of the day. Only buses will be exempt, and certain bus stops may be moved farther from intersections where the ban applies.
The committee have had this proposal on the agenda for some time. In 1949 their report on London traffic congestion contained two important recommendations. The first was that the number of goods vehicles in inner London should not be reduced, but that in short lengths of certain main thoroughfares loading and unloading should be prohibited during certain hours_ The second was that, for a distance of at least 45 ft. from the most important controlled intersections, all forms of waiting should be prohibited at certain times. Both these recommendations are now being given effect.
Not Representative
Matters dealt with by the committee affect many sections of the community; and not only in London, for the recommendations are often used as the basis of legislation covering the whole country. It tnay even be thought that membership of the committee is not entirely representative of the interests concerned, particularly where recommendations directly refer to those interests.
A glance at the list of members shows some inconsistencies. There are two representatives of the London Transport Executive, but no proposals in the report to restrict the operations of buses. There are two British Railways representatives, and the railways are not mentioned. The taxicab industry has a representative, and so have the users of horse-drawn vehicles. Four trade unions provide a total of five members to represent the interests of labour engaged in the transport industry. Other members are largely drawn from the Civil Service, local authorities and the police.
As f have said, one important recommendation imposes restrictions on the loading, and unloading of goods vehicles. The committee also considered "at length" the traffic problems caused by the carriage Of abnormal indivisible loads, and will reconsider these problems in due course with a view possibly to recommending further restrictions. Another point discussed arose from the congestion at the time of the Coronation when a large number of coaches toured the central London area.
In view of their interest in these matters, one would have thought that the committee would include representatives of goods vehicles, nationalized or under free enterprise, and passenger vehicles other than London buses. In fact, there is one member to "represent the interests of persons providing or using mechaniCally propelled road vehicles," and it would appear that neither the goods nor the passenger transport industry has had a hand in suggesting what that member should be.